Bogotá suspends truce with FARC-EMC

The Colombian government announced Monday that it will suspend a ceasefire agreement with the rebels accused of recently killing four indigenous people – at least three of them minors – who tried to avoid being recruited by force in the south of the country.

The government of President Gustavo Petro reported in a statement that the military will resume attacks against the factions of the FARC-EMC group that operate in the provinces of Caquetá, Putumayo, Guaviare and Meta, due to the group’s lack of commitment to the cessation of the fire.

“If the bilateral ceasefire is not effective in certain territories to protect the life and integrity of the entire population, it makes no sense to persist with it,” the authorities stressed in the statement.

peace negotiations

However, the government reiterated that it will continue to maintain a cessation of hostilities with the FARC-EMC in other parts of the country where attacks on civilians have decreased, and stated that it will soon appoint delegates to lead the peace negotiations with the rebel group.

Indigenous organizations last week accused the FARC-EMC of killing four people who had escaped from one of the group’s camps in Putumayo province, where they were being recruited. The government said at least three of them were minors.

On Saturday, the government of President Gustavo Petro maintained that the murders amounted to a war crime and an “attack on peace” and added that the attacks committed against the indigenous people of Colombia were “inexcusable acts.”

The FARC-EMC is led by former commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who rejected a 2016 peace deal with the Colombian government in which more than 14,000 fighters turned in their weapons.

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The Petro government ordered Colombian military forces to cease attacks against various armed groups in the country on December 31, as part of an effort to initiate simultaneous peace talks with different groups.

But the strategy has yielded few results so far. Although acts of violence between the army and armed groups have ceased in some parts of the country, attacks against civilians continue.

the gulf clan

In March, a ceasefire broke down with the criminal organization known as the Clan del Golfo after the group resisted government efforts to crack down on illegal mines.

For its part, the country’s largest remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), rejected an initial ceasefire offer and recently suspended peace talks after Petro said its junior commanders were not motivated by political objectives, but by the profits obtained from drug trafficking.

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