International
Analyst León Valencia: The ELN subordinated peace to its plan to seize the border
Analyst León Valencia, director of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation (Pares), states in an interview with EFE that the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN) “subordinated” the peace negotiations with the Government to a plan to seize the Colombian-Venezuelan border.
“They subordinated peace to their strategy of seizing the border. Really what they have shown at this time is that their main objective is to have control of that border, grow on that border and be the master of the border between Colombia and Venezuela,” says Valencia, who in his youth was a member of the ELN.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on January 17 the suspension of peace talks with the ELN, which he accused of committing “war crimes” in the Catatumbo region, where a confrontation between that guerrilla and the Front 33 of the FARC dissidents has left at least 56 dead and more than 54,000 displaced since January 16.
In that sense, the director of Pares, who analyzes everything that happens with the ELN in the book ‘Is lead what’s coming?’ (Penguin Randon House), considers that the fact that the guerrillas are facing another “armed left” group and not the Military Forces claims that “their main idea is to seize that border, fighting against the other illegals”.
The analyst, one of the greatest experts on the Colombian armed conflict, believes that the guerrilla has offered itself as “a support force” to the Chavista leader Nicolás Maduro “in the event of a foreign aggression” on Venezuela.
Valencia says that the guerrillas allied with the Venezuelan Government in 2019 to “sweep the paramilitaries” that were at the border, a successful operation because at that time, according to Pares figures, there were 27 armed groups there and only a few remain.
However, something that the ELN did not count on, in Valencia’s opinion, is that Petro did not cut off relations with Maduro after his questioned possession on January 10, which has led both countries to work together to face guerrilla violence on the common border of 2,219 kilometers.
“That is a little out of place for them, (they thought that Petro) was going to break relations with Venezuela and that Maduro was going to face (the President of the United States, Donald) Trump very hard and that Trump was also going to act immediately against Venezuela. Now the thing is temporarily very strange,” he says.
The main bet of the Petro Government was the policy of ‘Total Peace’, with which it sought to negotiate an agreement with the ELN and FARC dissidents, as well as the submission to justice of the main criminal gangs in the country.
However, with 18 months to go until the end of his mandate, the most advanced negotiation was that of the ELN and the president’s proposal seems to be shipwrecked.
In Valencia’s opinion, it is difficult to understand why the guerrillas are not signing peace with the first left-wing government in Colombia, although he believes that Petro was wrong to think that “ideology” and having “a similar speech” was going to be enough to disarm the ELN.
“The conflict changed radically, which is what we say in our book ‘Is lead what’s coming?’. We make an X-ray of the change in the conflict of some guerrillas who threatened the State and wanted to take central power and who are no longer in that now,” he explains.
Neither the ELN nor the FARC dissidents seek, as they intended before, to take power, but now “they are on the borders, in the regions, occupying territories, controlling the population, attacking the population, they are in something else”.
“There is a turn of the conflict and the ELN is in it. He gave up the seizure of power and is more in a task that they call resistance, they declare it publicly (…) It is a resistance of the ‘global south’, which is a series of groups and countries that have ideas of revolution, that have autocratic governments and are in something else,” says Valencia.
In this context, the director of Pares warns that the Military Forces and the Police must make a “very big operational change.”
“The intelligence that was made to look for where the ELN comes from, where the FARC come from to attack the State is no longer useful. Where do these groups go to seize a border, a region, how do they attack the population? It is another type of intelligence and it is what the State is not doing,” Valencia concludes.
International
Trump says Jimmy Kimmel show suspension due to poor ratings, not politics
U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed any political motive behind ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s show, stating that the decision is due to “poor viewership ratings” and not a reaction to Kimmel’s comments about the death of Charlie Kirk.
The suspension of Kimmel’s program was announced yesterday and coincided with the comedian’s remarks regarding Kirk’s death and the reactions of prominent Republican figures in the United States.
However, Trump, on his social media platform Truth Social, emphasized that the cancellations of both Kimmel’s and Stephen Colbert’s shows are due to low ratings and limited audience reach.
“Good news for the United States: Jimmy Kimmel’s show, with terrible ratings, has been canceled! Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to make this decision. Kimmel has no talent, and his ratings are even worse than Colbert’s, if that’s possible. Now only Jimmy and Seth remain, two failures, on the fake news network NBC. Their ratings are also catastrophic,” Trump wrote.
ABC announced on Wednesday that Jimmy Kimmel’s variety show will be taken off the air “indefinitely,” following threats of legal action from the U.S. government after the host made comments on the political repercussions of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
International
Padilla and Durbin seek oversight as deportation of Guatemalan minors sparks legal concerns
Democratic Senators Alex Padilla and Dick Durbin have demanded explanations from President Donald Trump’s administration regarding its plans to deport dozens of unaccompanied Guatemalan children in U.S. custody, without allowing them the chance to defend their immigration cases.
The lawmakers said on Wednesday that they have requested oversight hearings in the Senate to compel the White House to respond about the planned deportations, which were initially scheduled for August 31 but remain on hold due to a court order.
According to lawyers representing ten children aged 10 to 16 who filed a lawsuit, the administration violated due process by ignoring ongoing immigration cases and disregarding the special protections granted to minors who crossed the border from Mexico alone.
Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S. generally have the opportunity to appear before an immigration judge before being deported.
Padilla and Durbin’s demand comes after a report by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) alleged that the Trump administration misrepresented the safety of unaccompanied Guatemalan children under its care in order to justify removing them from the country.
The report revealed that at least 30 of the 327 Guatemalan children the administration attempted to deport “show signs” of having been victims of abuse, including death threats, gang violence, human trafficking, or expressed fear of returning to Guatemala.
However, Angie Salazar, director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which maintains custody of the children, testified in court under penalty of perjury that these children showed no evidence of abuse or neglect by a parent or guardian.
International
Trump criticizes Putin, calls Ukraine war “one of the deadliest conflicts”
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his disappointment on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that the war in Ukraine would have been easier to resolve due to the personal relationship they share, but has instead become one of the deadliest conflicts.
During a press conference following a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the official Chequers residence, Trump said he has successfully negotiated the end of seven armed conflicts, though he admitted that the war in Ukraine has been particularly challenging.
The president noted that he initially thought the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be “one of the easiest” to negotiate. However, he cautioned that “you never know in war” and often things “happen in the opposite way than expected.”
When asked why he was disappointed, Trump stated that Putin “is killing a lot of people,” adding that “Russian soldiers are being killed in greater numbers than Ukrainians.”
Prime Minister Starmer emphasized that the United Kingdom continues to work alongside the United States to halt “the killing in Ukraine.” He noted that in recent days, Putin has revealed his true intentions by ordering the most devastating attack since the invasion began in 2022, resulting in more civilian casualties and new violations of NATO airspace.
“President Trump and I have discussed how we can strengthen our defenses, maintain support for Ukraine, and increase international pressure to force Putin to accept a lasting peace agreement,” Starmer said.
The joint statement came on the second day of President Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom, from the Chequers country residence in Aylesbury, about 60 kilometers from London.
Trump says Jimmy Kimmel show suspension due to poor ratings, not politics
Padilla and Durbin seek oversight as deportation of Guatemalan minors sparks legal concerns
Trump criticizes Putin, calls Ukraine war “one of the deadliest conflicts”
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