Colombia’s ELN would respond with force to any break in ceasefire, says leader
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombia’s National Liberation Army rebels will respond with military force to any break in their ceasefire with the government, leader Antonio Garcia told Reuters, predicting that the current stage of peace talks will end in 2025. President Gustavo Petro restarted negotiations with the group, founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, as […]
Colombia and ELN rebels extend ceasefire by six months, agree to set up fund
Bogota, Colombia/Havana, Cuba Reuters Colombia’s government and National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have extended their bilateral ceasefire for another six months starting Tuesday, the same day they announced the creation of a fund backed by multiple donors to finance the process. An initial six-month ceasefire expired last week and was then extended by five days. […]
Colombia ELN guerrillas free kidnapped father of Liverpool soccer star Diaz
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas on Thursday freed the father of Liverpool soccer player Luis Diaz, after taking him hostage nearly two weeks ago, the government said. The kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz has disrupted the government’s peace talks with the ELN, which restarted last year in the hope of ending the […]
Colombia, ELN rebels start six-month ceasefire
Bogota, ColombiaReuters A six-month ceasefire between Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group began on Thursday, representing the most solid progress to date for President Gustavo Petro’s ambitious plans to end the country’s 60-year conflict. The ceasefire, set to run until the end of January, 2024, is the product of ongoing peace […]
Colombian armed groups and gangs have 17,600 members, intelligence reports find
Bogota, Colombia Reuters More than 17,600 people are members of the four major armed groups and 23 gangs with which the Colombian Government hopes to reach peace or surrender deals, two security agency reports seen by Reuters show. The newly updated figures, which have not been reported before, are an effort to understand the current […]
Colombia ELN leftist guerrilla group declares Christmas ceasefire
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombian leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday declared a nine-day unilateral ceasefire over the Christmas period, as part of a bid to support peace talks with the Andean country’s government, which urged other illegal armed groups to follow suit. Colombia’s government and the ELN last week completed the first […]
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 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 […]
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 […]