- Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspended the ceasefire after the mayor of Estado Central attacked an indigenous community.
- The government announced it would resume military operations against the rebels from Wednesday.
- Indigenous leaders in Cauca reported attacks by rebels that left at least three people injured.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday suspended a ceasefire with one of a handful of armed groups that had hoped to negotiate a peace deal, accusing his country’s fighters of violating the ceasefire by attacking indigenous communities.
The government announced on Wednesday that it would resume military operations against the Estado Mayor Central, a militant group that broke away from Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces when it signed a peace deal in 2016.
Indigenous leaders in the war-torn western region of Cauca said Saturday’s rebel attack left at least three people injured and a young student taken by force.
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In a post on the X Platform, Petro said the group was “violating the ceasefire agreement” and added that he believed it was using the peace talks as a cover to “strengthen militarily”. .
Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks at a press conference after a United Nations Security Council meeting at the presidential palace in Bogotá, Colombia, on February 8, 2024. President Petro on Sunday suspended a ceasefire with one of the few armed groups he had hoped to negotiate a peace deal with, saying the fighters had violated the ceasefire by attacking indigenous communities. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
The end of the ceasefire was a political blow to Petro, a former rebel who became Colombia’s first leftist leader after promising to establish “complete peace” in a country long ravaged by armed conflict.
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He has sought to reshape the country’s approach to decades of conflict by addressing the poverty at the root of the unrest, as well as negotiating peace with armed groups to minimize bloodshed. It’s here. However, conflict continues to rage in many rural areas of the South American country.
Delays in implementing the terms of the FARC agreement have led to an increasing number of former rebels rearming against the government and joining the toxic forces of drug and guerrilla organizations in the war for power.
More than 8 million people in Colombia are in need of humanitarian assistance, a report from the United Nations agency warned on Friday, mainly due to the escalation of armed conflict in the country.
