Child plane crash survivors in “acceptable” state of health
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Four Indigenous children who were missing for more than five weeks in Colombia’s southern jungle, after surviving a plane crash which killed their mother, are in an “acceptable” state of health, the government said on Saturday. The siblings were found on Friday in Caqueta province after weeks of searching by the military, Indigenous […]
Four Colombian children found alive in jungle weeks after plane crash
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Four children from an Indigenous community in Colombia were found alive in the country’s south on Friday more than five weeks after the plane they were traveling in crashed in thick jungle, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said. The siblings were rescued by the military near the border between Colombia’s Caqueta and Guaviare provinces, […]
Colombia, Venezuela reach agreement to find remains of victims buried by paramilitaries
Reuters Colombia and Venezuela have reached an agreement to search for remains of victims who were killed by paramilitaries during Colombia’s internal armed conflict and reportedly buried in Venezuela, Colombia President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday. The agreement follows recent confessions before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) tribunal by former paramilitary commander Salvatore Mancuso, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Some people living near Colombian volcano are loath to evacuate
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s government is trying to speed up the evacuation of some 2,500 families living closest to the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which is being monitored for a possible eruption, but some residents are refusing to leave. The volcano’s eruption in 1985 killed more than 25,000 people in Colombia’s biggest-ever natural disaster, with avalanches […]
Colombian President suspends ceasefire with criminal group
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday said he had suspended a ceasefire with the Clan del Golfo, the country’s largest criminal organisation, because it had attacked police. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro speaks on the day of a presentation of the labor reform that his government wants to carry out, in Bogota, Colombia, on […]
Colombia must do more to stop child recruitment by armed groups – NGO
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia’s government must increase efforts to stop armed groups from recruiting children, as it pushes for peace and surrender deals with rebels and crime gangs, thinktank International Crisis Group said on Friday, warning recruitment is rising. Colombian leftist President Gustavo Petro has made “total peace” – an end to almost six decades of […]
Colombia killings of social leaders hit record in 2022 – ombudsman
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombia witnessed killings of 215 social leaders and human rights activists in 2022, the highest toll ever recorded, as illegal armed groups intensified their attacks in key drug-trafficking areas, the government’s human rights ombudsman said on Monday. The number of killed human rights activists and social leaders – a term referring to community, […]
After years, private vehicles start crossing Colombia-Venezuela border again
Urena, Venezuela Reuters Private vehicles started crossing between Colombia and Venezuela for the first time in years on Sunday, marking the total opening of the shared border, in addition to cargo and people that have been transiting. Children play with their skateboards during the reopening of the Coronel Atanasio Girardot binational bridge after the normalisation […]