International
Seven FARC dissidents who were traveling in official vehicles were captured in Colombia
Seven members of the Central General Staff (EMC), the main dissident of the FARC, were captured in the Colombian department of Antioquia (northwest), when they were intercepted in a surprise military operation when they were moving in official vehicles.
The confirmation of the arrests was made by the Prosecutor’s Office in a statement in which it assured that it “captured in flagrante” seven members who were mobilized in official vehicles of the National Protection Unit (UNP) on a road between the municipalities of Santo Domingo and Barbosa.
The Prosecutor’s Office detailed that “three of them will be released as a result of the suspension of the arrest warrants requested by the national government, as members of the peace negotiating table with that armed organization outside the law.”
It all began when the Army intercepted a caravan of seven vans from the UNP, which depends on the Ministry of the Interior, in which the heads of an EMC block were traveling.
Among them was Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias ‘Calarcá’, who is the commander of the Magdalena Medio Block and one of the EMC negotiators with the Government, who had valid safe-conduct, but also guerrilla bosses on whom arrest warrants weigh.
The governor of Antioquia, Andrés Julián Rendón, was the one who from the beginning warned of the presence of guerrillas in the caravan of official vehicles, while, as he said, there are two mayors of that region, those of Toledo and San Rafael, who despite being threatened, do not have protection from the UNP.
“There is a very sad thing here and that is that I have two mayors threatened (…) and these criminals walking with the resources of the UNP throughout the country with weapons, with cash, with gold,” said the governor.
The Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, said that six members of the dissidents who traveled with alias ‘Calarcá’ were captured at a checkpoint.
He explained that among the detainees is Edgar de Jesús Orrego Arango, alias ‘Firu’ or ‘Leo’, who had an arrest warrant for several crimes.
Likewise, “five more people in flagrante dest,” were arrested, including alias ‘Érika’, “who had in her possession a supplier and other elements and María Alejandra Ojeda, who had a gun in illegal possession,” he said.
Velásquez added that he was also arrested alias ‘Ramiro’, who, despite having the arrest warrant suspended, “admitted to carrying an illegal weapon and for that reason was captured in flagrante delite.”
The same thing happened with ‘Urías Perdomo’, leader of the front Rodrigo Cadete and alias ‘Oliver González’, of the Raúl Reyes Commission.”
The minister pointed out that in the search the authorities found two revolvers, a supplier, bullets and one hundred million pesos in cash (about 25,000 dollars today).
Regarding the situation, the chief negotiator of the Government of Colombia with a part of the EMC, Camilo González Posso, said that the suspension of the arrest warrant with alias ‘Firu’ is in progress but that at the time of being arrested he was in an “irregular situation.”
“In these circumstances we have been informed of the arrest of one of the commanders of front 36, named ‘Firu’ or ‘Leo’, who has suspension of arrest warrant pending, we hope he will come out soon, but anyway it is an irregular situation and we have proceeded in accordance with the law,” added the chief negotiator.
Despite the incident, González Posso said: “We hope that this situation will be clarified (…) we want it to be resolved by law and we can resume the activities planned for this week.”
Last week the Colombian Government announced the termination of the bilateral ceasefire with the EMC due to its constant attacks on the civilian population and the Police in the southwest of the country, but maintained it for three months with three other organizations of that group, including the Magdalena Medio Block.
The EMC has been in peace talks since last year, but the dialogues have been hampered by the frequent attacks of that group in the departments of Cauca, Nariño and Valle del Cauca, in the southwest of the country.
Faced with that situation, the Government suspended contacts with the faction led by alias ‘Iván Mordisco’ last April, with which it ended the ceasefire in force since the beginning of the year, while maintaining them with the other three groups.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
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New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
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