Colombia’s illegal armed groups grew in 2023 – secret security report
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombia’s four main illegal armed groups grew during 2023 as they consolidated territorial control financed by drug trafficking and illicit gold extraction, according to a secret security report seen by Reuters. The report focused on leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN), crime gang the Clan del Golfo and two dissident […]
Colombia talks with EMC armed group in crisis, analysts say
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Peace talks in Colombia between the government and the Estado Mayor Central are in crisis, threatening to end negotiations and ramp up clashes between the armed group and the country’s military, analysts said on Thursday. Over the weekend, the government of President Gustavo Petro suspended a bilateral ceasefire with the EMC, a […]
Colombia decree suspends ceasefire with EMC armed group in three areas
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombia will suspend its months-long ceasefire with the Estado Mayor Central (ECM) armed group in three provinces on Wednesday, a government decree said on Sunday, citing incidents of violence that broke the ceasefire. The EMC – founded by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who reject the […]
Peace deal with Colombia unlikely before end of Petro’s term-EMC rebel leader
San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia Reuters It will be difficult for the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) armed group to sign a peace deal with the Colombian government before President Gustavo Petro finishes his term in 2026, despite trust between the two sides, a major leader of the EMC told Reuters on the sidelines of peace […]
Essay: Colombia – former FARC fighters who signed 2016 peace deal now live amid threats and assassinations
Oxford University researcher CHRISTOPH SPONSEL, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at the challenges obstructing the reintegration of former FARC members into society…
Some 5,000 people affected by fighting in Colombia’s south-west – government
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Combat between three Colombian armed groups in the country’s southwest has forced some 5,000 people either to flee or take refuge from the fighting, the government’s high peace commission said on Tuesday. The Awa Indigenous group in particular has been severely affected by the fighting between two groups of FARC dissidents – Segunda […]
FARC dissident group says to start peace talks with Colombian government in May
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Dissident FARC rebels who rejected a landmark peace agreement in 2016 said on Sunday they are ready to set up a dialogue with the government on 16th May to begin peace talks to bring their group, the Estado Mayor Central, out of the armed conflict. Leftist President Gustavo Petro – a former member […]