Colombia killings of social leaders, rights defenders hit new high
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia will end the year with at least 199 killings of social leaders and human rights defenders, the highest level recorded, due to attacks by illegal armed groups in areas tied to the drug trade, the country’s human rights ombudsman said on Wednesday. In the first eleven months of the year, 199 people […]
Colombia, ELN rebels invite three more countries to help with peace talks
Caracas, Venezuela/Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s government and leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) said on Friday they have agreed to invite Brazil, Chile and Mexico as so-called guarantor countries in peace talks that seek to end nearly 60 years of conflict. The peace talks, which had been suspended in 2019, resumed in the Venezuelan […]
Colombia, ELN rebels start peace talks, hoping to end six decades of war
Caracas, VenezuelaReuters Negotiators from the Colombian Government and leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) began peace talks on Monday, the first major step in President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to end nearly 60 years of war. Petro, a former member of the M-19 insurgency who took office in August, has promised to bring “total […]
Colombia suspends ELN rebel arrest warrants, extradition orders to restart peace talks
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s new President said Saturday he was suspending arrest warrants and extradition requests for members of the left-wing guerrilla group the National Liberation Army in an effort to restart peace talks to end nearly 60 years of war. The announcement is part of a principal campaign promise by newly elected Gustavo Petro, a […]
Colombia’s next government must focus on tackling criminal groups, UN says
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s next government must prioritise dismantling illegal armed groups and criminal gangs, a report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday, with rising violence devastating rural communities. Violence in Colombia fell dramatically following the 2016 peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of […]
Colombia truth commission urges drug policy change to end violence
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombian leaders must recognize how drug trafficking has penetrated the country’s culture, economy and politics and how the global war on drugs is driving its internal armed conflict, Colombia’s truth commission said on Tuesday in a long-awaited report. The commission, established as part of a 2016 peace deal between the government and the […]
FARC dissidents responsible for bombing that killed two children, says Colombia’s Duque
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombian President Ivan Duque on Monday accused former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who reject a peace deal of setting off explosives at a police station which killed two children and injured 39 others in Bogota. The Saturday night attack was the worst in the capital since another rebel […]
Updated: At least 23 killed in armed clashes in Colombia’s Arauca, government says
Updated: 12.30pm (AEDT)Bogota, ColombiaReuters Twenty-three people have been reported killed so far in Colombia’s Arauca province amid fighting between illegal armed groups, Defense Minister Diego Molano told a news conference late on Monday. Fighting broke out over the weekend in Arauca – which sits on the border with Venezuela – as members of the National […]
Some 1,900 Colombian guerrillas operating from Venezuela, says Colombia military chief
Bogota, ColombiaReuters About 1,900 fighters belonging to Colombian rebel and crime groups are operating from Venezuela, where they plan attacks and participate in drug trafficking, the commander of Colombia’s armed forces said. The Colombian Government has long said Venezuela’s leadership grants safe harbour to Colombian armed groups, allowing trafficking of cocaine in exchange for a […]
Guns, drugs, jobs: In these Venezuelan towns, Colombian rebels call the shots
SARAH KINOSIAN, of Reuters, reports on how Colombian rebels have gained a foothold in Venezuela…