Colombia

Colombia: Presidents Petro and Biden to meet on peace and migration

BOGOTA, April 18 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Colombia President Gustavo Petro will meet with his US counterpart, Joe Biden, on Thursday to address issues such as peace and migration.    

Before leaving for the US, Petro told reporters about his expectations for the meeting, especially on peace in his country and the entire American continent.

He said that peace is measured by disease, economic stagnation, hunger, and climate crisis.

Residents near Colombian volcano evacuated

BOGOTA, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — About 120 residents living near Colombia’s Nevada del Ruiz volcano were evacuated Monday, officials said, after increased seismic activity.

A 1985 eruption by the volcano that killed 25,000 people is considered the worst natural disaster in Colombian history and one of the deadliest eruptions of the 20th century.

The governor of the Caldas department, Luis Carlos Velasquez, told Blu Radio that around 40 families living near the volcano were relocated as a “preventative” measure.

4 killed in Colombian military helicopter crash

BOGOTA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A Colombian military helicopter crashed on Sunday, killing four soldiers in Quibdo, the capital city of Choco department, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said.

"There were no survivors in the plane crash in Quibdo," Petro said on social media, extending condolences to the families of the victims.

The helicopter was delivering supplies when the tragedy occurred, he added.

Farlin Perea, the governor of Choco department, said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the accident.

Women enlist in Colombia’s army for first time in 25 years

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Dressed in camouflage, Zulma Stefania Perez reflected on her first weeks of training at a military base in the capital — and on her life as one of Colombia’s first female recruits in more than two decades.

“The physical drills we must endure are the same” as those for men, she said. “Being women doesn’t make us less capable. In fact, there are many skills and strengths we have that men may not have.”

Accusations against relatives a blow to Colombian president

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro has asked prosecutors to investigate accusations against his brother and one of his sons that could deal a blow to his presidency and undermine his plans for peace and to fight corruption.

Petro, a former guerrilla who was elected as Colombia’s first leftist president last year, has promised to battle endemic corruption and bring “total peace” to the South American country which only recently, in 2016, signed a peace pact largely ending decades of internal war.

Colombia president asks to stop arrest of narco sought by US

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president is seeking to suspend arrest orders against some of the country’s biggest criminal suspects, including at least one individual wanted in the U.S. on narcotics charges, as part of an ambitious plan to dismantle armed groups that have long dominated the countryside.

Colombia agrees ceasefire with main armed groups: President

BOGOTA, Jan 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Colombia’s government has agreed to a six-month ceasefire with the five largest armed groups operating in the country, President Gustavo Petro announced.

Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, has pledged to end the Andean nation’s internal conflict, which has run for almost six decades killing at least 450,000 people between 1985 and 2018.

Colombia records two more leaders killed, 183 in 2022

BOGOTA, Dec 9 (NNN-TELESUR) — The murder of two more leaders in the Colombian departments of Bolivar and Guaviare was denounced by the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz). 

Since the signing of the Peace Accords in 2016, the total number of murdered leaders stands at 1,403 victims, while the figure so far this year is 183, according to Indepaz. 

Colombia asks for legal status for its people already in US

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia wants the Biden administration to grant temporary legal status to its citizens now living in the United States, noting its own efforts to address regional migration by hosting 2 million Venezuelans who fled their homes.

Gustavo Petro, who was elected Colombia’s first leftist president in June, is committed to the “incredibly generous policies” of his predecessor, which includes temporary status for 1.8 million people who fled neighboring Venezuela, said Luis Alberto Murillo Urrutia, Colombia’s ambassador to the U.S.

Colombia: Clashes between two rebel factions kill 18

BOGOTÁ, Nov 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 18 people were killed in Colombia in clashes between holdouts from the former rebel army FARC and another armed group linked to drug trafficking, the government said.

The government ombudsman’s office said the fighting occurred on Saturday in southwest Colombia, near the border with Ecuador.

The clashes involved rebels who have rejected a 2016 peace agreement that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed with the government and a criminal band that calls itself Comandos de la Frontera, or Border Commandos.

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