FARC leader is dead

(CNN) -- The leader of Colombia's largest leftist rebel group is dead, a spokesman for the nation's defense ministry said Saturday.

Pedro Antonio Marin, known as Manuel Marulanda Vilez and nicknamed Tirofijo, is believed to have died of a heart attack, ministry spokesman Juan Manuel Santos said.

"He must be in hell," Santos told a reporter from Semana magazine.

Marulanda, who was believed to be in his late 70s, has led the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, for decades.