Colombia

Colombia’s rebel group ELN announces one-month truce starting Thursday

BOGOTA, July 6 (NNN-MERCCOPRESS) — Colombia’s main rebel group National Liberation Army (ELN) ordered its forces to stop “offensive military actions” as of July 6.

However, in a message posted on the rebel group’s website, its members were advised to be prepared to “respond to threats or attacks by any armed group against our units or against the civilian population.”

Colombia: 4 children, including a baby, survived a plane crash and 40 days alone in the Amazon jungle

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Four Indigenous children survived an Amazon plane crash that killed three adults and then braved the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers, bringing a happy ending to a search-and-rescue saga that captivated a nation but also prompted questions about their extraordinary survival.

Colombia: Presidents Petro and Biden to meet on peace and migration

BOGOTA, April 18 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Colombia President Gustavo Petro will meet with his US counterpart, Joe Biden, on Thursday to address issues such as peace and migration.    

Before leaving for the US, Petro told reporters about his expectations for the meeting, especially on peace in his country and the entire American continent.

He said that peace is measured by disease, economic stagnation, hunger, and climate crisis.

Residents near Colombian volcano evacuated

BOGOTA, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — About 120 residents living near Colombia’s Nevada del Ruiz volcano were evacuated Monday, officials said, after increased seismic activity.

A 1985 eruption by the volcano that killed 25,000 people is considered the worst natural disaster in Colombian history and one of the deadliest eruptions of the 20th century.

The governor of the Caldas department, Luis Carlos Velasquez, told Blu Radio that around 40 families living near the volcano were relocated as a “preventative” measure.

4 killed in Colombian military helicopter crash

BOGOTA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A Colombian military helicopter crashed on Sunday, killing four soldiers in Quibdo, the capital city of Choco department, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said.

"There were no survivors in the plane crash in Quibdo," Petro said on social media, extending condolences to the families of the victims.

The helicopter was delivering supplies when the tragedy occurred, he added.

Farlin Perea, the governor of Choco department, said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the accident.

Women enlist in Colombia’s army for first time in 25 years

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Dressed in camouflage, Zulma Stefania Perez reflected on her first weeks of training at a military base in the capital — and on her life as one of Colombia’s first female recruits in more than two decades.

“The physical drills we must endure are the same” as those for men, she said. “Being women doesn’t make us less capable. In fact, there are many skills and strengths we have that men may not have.”

Accusations against relatives a blow to Colombian president

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro has asked prosecutors to investigate accusations against his brother and one of his sons that could deal a blow to his presidency and undermine his plans for peace and to fight corruption.

Petro, a former guerrilla who was elected as Colombia’s first leftist president last year, has promised to battle endemic corruption and bring “total peace” to the South American country which only recently, in 2016, signed a peace pact largely ending decades of internal war.

Colombia president asks to stop arrest of narco sought by US

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president is seeking to suspend arrest orders against some of the country’s biggest criminal suspects, including at least one individual wanted in the U.S. on narcotics charges, as part of an ambitious plan to dismantle armed groups that have long dominated the countryside.

Colombia agrees ceasefire with main armed groups: President

BOGOTA, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Colombia’s government has agreed to a six-month ceasefire with the five largest armed groups operating in the country, President Gustavo Petro announced.

Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, has pledged to end the Andean nation’s internal conflict, which has run for almost six decades killing at least 450,000 people between 1985 and 2018.

Colombia records two more leaders killed, 183 in 2022

BOGOTA, Dec 9 (NNN-TELESUR) — The murder of two more leaders in the Colombian departments of Bolivar and Guaviare was denounced by the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz). 

Since the signing of the Peace Accords in 2016, the total number of murdered leaders stands at 1,403 victims, while the figure so far this year is 183, according to Indepaz. 

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