In Colombia, the peace process promised by President Gustavo Petro is progressing. On Sunday evening, he announced a ceasefire and peace negotiations with five armed groups in the South American country. “This is an act of courage,” tweeted the first left-wing president and former guerrilla. Conflicts in the Andean nation have raged for nearly six decades and have claimed at least 450,000 lives.
“The bilateral ceasefire obliges the armed organizations and the state to abide by it. There will be a national and international review mechanism.” The government announced that it would issue a decree for each of the organizations specifying the duration and terms of the ceasefire. The end is scheduled for June 30, but can be extended.
Various left-wing rebel groups
The groups include the leftist rebel organization National Liberation Army (ELN), as well as breakaways from the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Segunda Marquetalia and Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC).
Petro was a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement. During his inaugural address as president last August, he announced that he would unite the divided country and bring it to “total peace”. Already in 2016, after years of fighting the Colombian government, the left-wing FARC signed a peace agreement with the state and surrendered its weapons. However, in 2019, a small faction of the FARC announced rearmament because the agreement with the government was allegedly broken.
Between 1985 and 2018, at least 450,000 people were killed in Colombia in fighting between government forces, left-wing rebel groups, right-wing militias and drug cartels.
Source: Krone
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