Colombia’s Petro decrees emergency powers amid deadly border area violence

6 hours ago 1

Violence betwixt equipped groups successful the Catatumbo portion has displaced much than 32,000 people, rights groups estimate.

Published On 24 Jan 2025

Colombia’s president has issued a decree giving himself exigency powers to reconstruct bid successful a portion bordering Venezuela that has been racked by an outbreak of deadly unit betwixt rival equipped groups.

Gustavo Petro’s decree connected Friday gives him up to 270 days to enforce curfews, restrict postulation and instrumentality different steps that would usually interruption Colombians’ civilian rights oregon necessitate legislature approval, The Associated Press reported.

It applies to the agrarian Catatumbo portion connected Colombia’s northeastern borderline with Venezuela.

The country has seen a surge successful unit since mid-January betwixt National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels and dissident groups from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which are battling for power of drug-trafficking routes.

At slightest 80 radical person been killed, and more than 32,000 person been forced to fly their homes successful caller weeks, according to rights groups. Residents person said the equipped groups are going door-to-door and launching indiscriminate attacks.

Last week, Petro’s authorities announced it was suspending bid talks with the ELN owed to the uptick successful unit successful Catatumbo.

The left-wing president, who took bureau successful 2022, had pledged to bring “total peace” to the South American state aft a decades-long struggle betwixt the state, paramilitaries and rebel groups.

Petro has pushed for negotiations with the equipped groups, and his strategy has reduced the violence. But rebel infighting and clashes with the Colombian service person persisted.

The authorities has deployed thousands of soldiers to Catatumbo to effort to stem the caller violence. On Wednesday, the bureau of Colombia’s lawyer wide besides reissued apprehension warrants for ELN leaders.

It said successful a connection that it was “revoking the benefits of suspended apprehension warrants for 31 representatives of [the ELN] … who had been recognised by the nationalist authorities arsenic spokespeople astatine negotiations”.

The ELN has denied attacking civilians and said its violative is against a faction of erstwhile FARC rebels and the demobilised rebels who enactment them.

The FARC utilized to beryllium the largest rebel radical successful the country, but aft a 2016 bid woody mostly dismantled the organisation, respective groups splintered off. They excessively person engaged successful caller bid talks with the Petro government.

Rights groups person urged the authorities to guarantee that civilians successful Catatumbo are protected.

“We telephone connected the Colombian authorities to urgently instrumentality each indispensable measures to support civilians successful the Catatumbo region, including quality rights defenders,” said Amnesty International, informing of “growing threats of confinement, further killings, and enforced disappearances”.

United Nations main Antonio Guterres besides expressed interest this week astatine the deteriorating situation.

Guterres called for “an contiguous cessation of acts of unit against the civilian colonisation and for unhindered humanitarian access”, his spokesperson said.

Many Catatumbo residents person fled to Venezuela oregon to the neighbouring Colombian portion of Norte de Santander.

Adib Fletcher, the elder determination manager for Latin America and the Caribbean astatine the assistance radical Project HOPE, said displaced families — including mothers with young children — person been arriving successful Norte de Santander successful droves.

“Families person fled with conscionable 1 oregon 2 bags, and they person nary certainty connected erstwhile they tin instrumentality to their homes,” Fletcher said successful a statement connected Wednesday.

“As radical find structure successful overcrowded areas, we are acrophobic astir illness outbreaks and an accrued strain connected the section wellness system.”

Zilenia Pana, 48, fled the warring with her eight- and 13-year-old children for the comparative information of Ocana, a tiny municipality successful Norte de Santander.

Seeing “the dormant bodies was sad, painful. That breaks your soul, your heart,” Pana told the AFP quality agency.

She said she prays lone that the warring stops truthful she tin instrumentality location with her children. “That’s each we want. That’s each we inquire from those people,” she said.

Source

:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies

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