International
Colombia backtracks on ceasefire announcement
| By AFP |
The Colombian government said Wednesday it was suspending a ceasefire it had announced with the ELN armed group, which denied agreeing to any such truce.
The reversal dampened hopes for an imminent end to decades of violence that have continued to plague the South American country despite a 2016 peace pact that led to the disarmament of the FARC guerrilla group.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro had declared on New Year’s Eve that a temporary truce had been agreed with the country’s five largest armed groups, including the National Liberation Army (ELN), from January 1 to June 30.
The government subsequently said the ceasefire, hailed by the international community, would be monitored by the United Nations, Colombia’s human rights ombudsman and the Catholic Church.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it “brings renewed hope for comprehensive peace to the Colombian people as the New Year dawns.”
But then on Tuesday, the ELN said it had “not discussed any bilateral ceasefire with the Gustavo Petro government, therefore no such agreement exists.”
The group added that “a unilateral government decree cannot be accepted as an agreement.”
This prompted the government Tuesday to concede that a proposed ceasefire decree had not yet been finally signed.
And on Wednesday, Interior Minister Alfonso Prada told reporters in Bogota that “we have decided to suspend the legal effects of the decree” in view of the ELN’s stated position.- ‘Total peace’ –
Negotiations between the government and the ELN, the country’s last recognized rebel group, have been under way since November.
A first round of peace talks since Petro came to power in August as Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, concluded in Caracas, Venezuela on December 12 without a truce being agreed.
Another round of talks is due to take place in Mexico, although no date has been set.
Prada said the issue of a ceasefire will be taken up again in Mexico.
Tuesday’s ELN statement said the group was “ready to discuss the proposal for a bilateral ceasefire.”
In pursuit of Petro’s quest to bring “total peace” to Colombia, the government is offering armed groups “benevolent treatment from the judicial point of view,” Senator Ivan Cepeda recently told AFP.
This would be in exchange for “a surrender of assets, a dismantling of these organizations” and agreeing to stop their “illicit economies.”
According to Petro’s tweet, the government had “agreed to a bilateral ceasefire” with the ELN, two dissident splinter factions of the disbanded FARC, the Gulf Clan narco group and the Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada, a rightwing paramilitary organization.
The ELN is the only group to have refuted the announcement by Petro, who was himself an urban guerrilla member in his youth.
Over 50 years of violence
Negotiations between the government and armed groups which have an estimated combined total of 15,000 fighters, have so far failed to end the spiral of violence engulfing the country.
Colombia has suffered more than 50 years of armed conflict between the state and various groups of left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug traffickers.
The Indepaz research institute recorded nearly 100 massacres in Colombia last year.
Despite the peace agreement that saw FARC guerrillas disarm in 2017, armed groups remain locked in deadly disputes over drug trafficking revenues and other illegal businesses, according to the think tank.
Colombia is the world’s largest cocaine producer.
The ELN, created in 1964, had announced a unilateral ceasefire from Christmas Eve to January 2.
Official estimates are that some 3,500 ELN fighters are present in 22 of Colombia’s 32 departments.
International
Former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney dies at 84
Dick Cheney, former U.S. vice president under George W. Bush and a chief architect of the 2000s “war on terror,” died Monday night at age 84.
According to a family statement, Cheney passed away due to complications from pneumonia and cardiovascular disease.
Cheney, who rose to political prominence as White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford in the 1970s, went on to become one of the most influential vice presidents in U.S. history during the Bush administration (2001–2009). He was widely known as one of the strongest advocates for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In his later years, however, Cheney emerged as a vocal critic of the Republican Party under Donald Trump’s leadership.
“Dick Cheney was a great man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country and to live with courage, honor, love, kindness, and a passion for fishing,” his family said in a statement.
International
Sheinbaum maintains 70% approval despite growing discontent in Mexico
Seven out of ten Mexicans — 70% — approve of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s performance a little over a year into her term, even as disapproval reached its highest level in October at 30%, according to a monthly survey published by the newspaper El Financiero.
The approval rating marks a slight decline compared to September (73%), August (74%), and especially February, when Sheinbaum peaked at 85%. Meanwhile, disapproval rose to 30%, three points higher than in August and double the levels recorded between January and March, when just 15% of respondents disapproved of her leadership.
Of the 1,000 Mexicans surveyed, 59% rated the government’s response to last month’s deadly storms — which left 83 people dead and 16 missing — as good or very good. Additionally, 56% gave positive marks to cleanup and recovery efforts, while 40% viewed them negatively.
Support programs for affected families received 53% positive and 42% negative evaluations. Sheinbaum’s visits to impacted areas generated a narrower split: 50% approval versus 45% disapproval.
The president’s empathy stood out as her most valued attribute, earning 63% favorable ratings, followed by honesty (59%), leadership (59%), and ability to deliver results (47%).
International
Shootout in Sinaloa leaves 13 gunmen dead as authorities rescue kidnapping victims
A confrontation between Mexican security forces and an armed group in the troubled state of Sinaloa left 13 gunmen dead and four others arrested, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch reported on Monday.
Sinaloa, located on the Pacific coast, has been shaken for more than a year by a violent power struggle between factions of a powerful local cartel — a conflict that has resulted in at least 1,700 homicides, including 57 minors, and nearly 2,000 disappearances.
The shootout occurred around 12:45 p.m. local time (18:45 GMT) in the municipality of Guasave, where authorities were able to rescue nine kidnapped individuals following the clash. Officers also seized seven vehicles, long weapons, and tactical equipment, according to the minister’s post on X.
García Harfuch explained that security forces “were attacked by an armed group hiding under a bridge” while patrolling the La Brecha community of Guasave, prompting an “immediate response” from authorities.
The detainees and seized items have been turned over to Mexico’s federal prosecutor’s office, he added.
The internal war within the Sinaloa Cartel erupted after the capture of longtime leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was betrayed and extradited to the United States in July 2024 by the son of his former partner Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Guzmán has been serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison since 2019.
Former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney dies at 84
Sheinbaum maintains 70% approval despite growing discontent in Mexico
Shootout in Sinaloa leaves 13 gunmen dead as authorities rescue kidnapping victims
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