International

The Government of Colombia denies having given money to the ELN through corrupt contracts

The Colombian Government rejected on Wednesday the accusations of the former director of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) Olmedo López, who assured in statements to Justice that the guerrilla National Liberation Army (ELN) received money from the State through contracts of this entity, immersed in a corruption scandal.

This was stated by the delegation of the Government that negotiates peace with the ELN in a statement in which he pointed out that “as we have reiterated in all circumstances, the demand on the ELN to suspend the practice of kidnapping for economic reasons that the National Government has formulated has never been subject to any offer of consideration or economic benefits.”

The negotiators emphasize that “all the actions in progress of the peace process with the ELN have strictly adhered to the principle of legality that means respect for the Constitution and the laws in force.”

In a statement he gave last month to investigators of the Supreme Court of Justice, revealed last Tuesday by Noticias Caracol, López, who is being investigated for several cases of corruption during his management in the UNGRD, said: “This is a network that includes from ministers to contractors, but in the middle there are other officials (…) and it touches an actor who has a very strong military capacity.”

“The name that says that role that I showed the Prosecutor’s Office and that reads in the summary of my statement (…) is the ELN and its great influence in the department of Arauca (border with Venezuela),” López added.

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The former director of the UNGRD recalled that last December, in the fifth cycle of the peace negotiation held in Mexico City, the Government and the ELN agreed that this armed group would cease kidnappings for economic purposes.

However, last May, when the corruption scandal had already broken out and López was no longer director of the Unit, the guerrillas “ended” the suspension of kidnappings for economic purposes, considering that the Executive has failed to comply with the creation of a “multi-donor fund for the peace process.”

In that direction, López assured the investigators: “they issued a statement a few months ago: ‘we return to the kidnappings because they have not guaranteed the maintenance of the men’ (…) and how were they going to guarantee it? With contracts.”

After this, the former official pointed out that a UNGRD contract was delivered to the representative of the Chamber Karen Manrique, of the department of Arauca, an area “of a high guerrilla influence of the ELN.”

In their statement, the Government’s peace negotiators recalled that all the issues that are negotiated with the ELN are framed in the legality and that, in addition, there is “permanent observation of the international community” as are the guarantor and accompanying countries, the UN and the Catholic Church.

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“The contents of each of the sessions of the Dialogue Table, the working commissions and the meetings of the heads of the delegations, are duly recorded in the working minutes signed by both delegations and the representatives of the international community,” the document emphasizes.

For his part, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, said on social networks that in the peace negotiations with the ELN “they have only achieved a first point of political commitment, any funding with the ELN, as happened with the FARC, would take place in the final phase with the definitive demobilization of violence and would never be given through public procurement.”

The president assured that “Olmedo’s falsehood is that he desperately needs to denounce to lower his sentence, without returning the stolen money.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”