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
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
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