Colombia Ceasefire

Colombia's government on Tuesday said it will end a cease-fire with the largest faction of the FARC-EMC, a holdout rebel group that refused to sign a 2016 peace deal but which had been involved in peace talks with President Gustavo Petro's administration until March. In a press conference, Defence Minister Ivn Velsquez said the FARC-EMC has split into two factions. He said a cease-fire with the group's smallest faction will be extended for three months while peace talks with the government continue. The FARC-EMC was founded by fighters who refused to join a peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that led to the disarmament of more than 13,000 rebels and their integration into civilian life. Colombia's military estimates the hold out group has more than 4,400 fighters who operate in southwestern Colombia, in the Amazon piedmont, and in the Catatumbo region along Colombia's border with Venezuela. The group's two factions are led by commanders

Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro on Monday announced his intention to fully open the border crossings with Colombia starting January 1, a measure repeatedly postponed following the restoration of diplomatic and commercial ties between the South American neighbours. Relations between the countries were broken off in 2019, but Maduro has said the environment is conducive to improved ties with the election of Gustavo Petro as Colombia's first leftist president. The neighbours resumed diplomatic relations in September. I am going to announce that we will be completely opening the border, for all of western Venezuela with Colombia, for the passage of vehicles, motorcycles, trucks as of January 1. Maduro said on state television. We are preparing everything to comply with what we announced, to fulfill what was promised to President Gustavo Petro, he said. Petro has recognised Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela. His predecessor, Ivn Duque, along with dozens of other countri

Santos said that he was extending by two months the ceasefire with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia until Dec 31

Hundreds of thousands of Colombians have died since 1964 as rebel armies and gangs battled in the jungles

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said this week that he hopes to seal a full peace deal by July 20