A Colombian newspaper published an interview with the defense minister of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos on the 24th of May, 2008. In it, Santos said, that Colombian intelligence agents thought, that Manuel Marulanda had died on the 26th of March 2008, either of natural causes, or through a heart attack. FARC commander ‘Timochenko’ confirmed on May 25 Telesur that ‘Manuel Marulanda’ died of a heart attack, as announced earlier by the Colombian government and the Colombian armed forces