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Colombia’s peace chief meets with FARC dissidents: statement

Photo: Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP

AFP

Colombia’s peace commissioner has met with leaders of a major dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in a possible step towards peace talks, both sides said in a published statement.

Latin America’s most fearsome guerrilla group, FARC signed a peace deal with the state in 2016 to end more than half a century of armed conflict.

But some guerrillas, unable to find a niche in civilian life, joined dissidents linked to the illegal trade in drugs and mining resources.

Peace commissioner Danilo Rueda met with four high-ranking members of a holdout FARC group in the southern region of Caqueta, according to an undated joint statement published on Saturday in a local newspaper.

“We have held an exploratory and rapprochement meeting to assess the possibility of initiating talks in the framework of total peace,” the statement said.

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The FARC members were identified in the statement as “Calarca Cordoba, Alonso 45, Ermes Tovar and Erika Castro.”

A photo of Rueda and four uniformed men was published alongside the statement, which added that the two sides also agreed on “a confidential protocol to guarantee a meeting” of the guerrilla commanders.

United Nations representative Raul Rosende and Norwegian diplomat Dag Nagoda also appeared in the photo.

Colombia’s first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro is pursuing a policy of “total peace” with all armed groups.

Rueda said on Thursday that former FARC senior commander Ivan Marquez, who is now the head of another dissident faction, had expressed interest in taking part in fresh talks.

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“It is possible to imagine that we could be on the brink” of a multilateral ceasefire, Rueda said.

After the 2016 deal, the former Marxist FARC guerrillas formed a communist political party that is guaranteed 10 seats in congress.

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International

Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been diagnosed with skin cancer while serving a historic sentence for attempting a coup d’état. His medical team confirmed that the lesions have been removed and that, for now, he does not require further procedures, though he will need regular monitoring.

On Wednesday, September 17, Bolsonaro’s doctors confirmed the diagnosis. The announcement comes shortly after the former leader was convicted of orchestrating an attempted coup.

According to his physician, Claudio Birolini, Bolsonaro has “squamous cell carcinoma, which is neither the most benign nor the most aggressive form — it is intermediate.” Birolini warned, however, that this type of skin cancer “can carry more serious consequences.”

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International

Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’

Argentine President Javier Milei praised Paraguay’s economic growth over the past two decades during a speech before the Paraguayan Congress on Wednesday (Sept. 17, 2025), crediting it to incentives that favored capitalism. At the same time, he contrasted that progress with what he described as Argentina’s deepening “decline” during the same period.

“If we compare the last 20 years of Paraguay with those of the Argentine Republic, we will find almost diametrically opposite results,” Milei told lawmakers during a special session of Parliament on the second and final day of his official visit to Asunción.

“While you have not stopped growing, we have deepened our decline. If we understand incentives as the engine of capitalism, Paraguay focused on preserving and strengthening them, while Argentina dedicated itself to chaining, directing, and suffocating them,” the right-wing leader stated.

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International

Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump intensified a large-scale immigration operation in the Chicago area with the arrival of additional Border Patrol agents on Tuesday and the presence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a raid.

Noem posted a video on her X account showing the immigration operation, in which DHS reportedly removed “violent criminals” from the streets. The footage shows Noem observing the arrest of a man taken into custody at his home early Tuesday morning at an undisclosed location.

“I was in Chicago today to make it clear that we will not back down,” the secretary wrote. “Our work is just beginning,” she added.

The warning from Noem was echoed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Gregory Bovino, who posted a video on X Tuesday showing multiple Border Patrol vehicles arriving in the city with the caption: “Chicago, we are here!”

Bovino, who led the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles implemented since last June, said the team will remain in Chicago to continue the mission they started in California.

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Operation “Midway Blitz” is currently focused on the Chicago metropolitan area and its suburbs. Activists and residents have reported sightings of masked agents and unmarked vehicles in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.

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