International

The Colombian Government will go on the offensive against the ELN for the violence in the Catatumbo

The Minister of the Interior of Colombia, Juan Fernando Cristo, said on Wednesday that the Government will go on the offensive against the National Liberation Army (ELN) for the violence exercised since last week in the Catatumbo region that has left between 60 and 80 dead and more than 38,000 displaced.

“The Government has decided to use all constitutional and legal instruments to reject that intention of the ELN (to control the Colombian-Venezuelan border), to go on the offensive and to restore normality for the inhabitants of Catatumbo,” Cristo said in a statement to the press.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Monday that he will declare a state of internal commotion for the offensive undertaken by the guerrillas, a measure that will come into force tonight, according to Cristo.

“It is totally inexcusable, unacceptable, the crimes committed by the ELN, are acts of barbarism, it is a premeditated, organized massacre, the one that the ELN has done in the Catatumbo while they were preparing for a new conversation with the Government,” said Cristo.

Petro also suspended on Friday the peace talks with that guerrilla, with whom the Government delegation was supposed to meet this month to try to unlock negotiations that have stalled since May last year.

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However, Cristo said that with this offensive, the ELN aims to “appropriate the income of coca, drug trafficking” and to “exercise territorial control over the Colombian-Venezuelan border area in that part of the Catatumbo.”

The ELN offensive against a FARC dissident has left between 60 and 80 dead (according to reports from the Ombudsman’s Office and the Government of Norte de Santander), although Legal Medicine has so far received only 41 bodies due to the difficulty in accessing the areas where the fighting took place.

Likewise, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) figures 38,419 displaced and 12,176 confined.

With the declaration of internal shock, the Government considers that it will have “all the necessary legal instruments to face this crisis and to restore normality.”

“From the issuance of the decree tonight, the Government will be authorized for 90 days to issue measures that allow us to restore that normality,” Cristo said.

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It seeks to strengthen “military capabilities, increase the foot of strength, restrict communications and intercept communications.”

“We need to advance in the control of coca, advance with a crash plan in programs to replace illicit crops, because if we do not transform that economy (…) we will continue in the same,” he said.

Likewise, it has a humanitarian dimension to “attend as it properly deserves, with all dignity, to the displaced people caused by the ELN, who are today in Tibú, Ocaña and the city of Cúcuta.”

Finally, the interior commotion seeks to carry out a “social and economic transformation of the territory”.

“We are going to use the inner commotion to advance in a defined way in the replacement of illicit crops, but also in the fulfillment of a dream of the catatumberos, which are investments,” Cristo concluded.

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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.”