Thank you for reading LatinNews' chosen article from the LatinNews Daily - 17 July 2024
On 16 July Colombia’s government terminated a ceasefire agreement with a large swathe of the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest grouping of dissident units of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group.
The fracturing of the EMC had been preluded on 11 July at the start of a new round of peace talks with the three factions of the dissident alliance that remain engaged in the peace process. Those factions were referred to in a joint statement as the ‘Estado Mayor de los Bloques’. Together they only comprise an estimated 40% of the EMC’s fighters. The abandonment of peace talks with the wider EMC represents a significant blow to President Gustavo Petro’s flagship ‘total peace’ initiative, which aims for the negotiated demobilisation of all illegal armed groups.
- Defence Minister Iván Velásquez yesterday announced “the termination of the ceasefire with all blocks and fronts of what was previously known as the EMC, apart from the Magdalena Medio blocks ‘Gentil Duarte’ and ‘Jorge Suárez Brice?o’, and the ‘Raúl Reyes’ front”. These factions with which the ceasefire will be maintained have an armed presence in the departments of Meta, Caquetá, Putumayo, Norte de Santander, Antioquia, Bolívar, Guaviare, Huila, and Tolima.
- Expelled from the ceasefire agreement are all of the units that are aligned with the EMC’s leader, Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández (‘Iván Mordisco’). A ceasefire was previously suspended in March with three EMC units in the southwest (‘Jaime Martínez’, ‘Dagoberto Ramos’, and ‘Carlos Pati?o’), which have responded with a wave of violence in the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca.
- The Colombian press has cited government negotiators involved in discussions with the EMC as saying that only 40% of the EMC’s fighters belong to units that are still engaged in the peace process.
- The ceasefire with the three remaining factions was renewed yesterday and will run for three months until 15 October. Velásquez emphasised that the security forces will continue to respond to crimes committed by dissident forces that remain in the peace process. He said that the government is “particularly concerned” that “organisations, including those which are part of the ceasefire… continue extorting all sectors of the population in areas where they have a presence”.
- Velásquez said that the monitoring of the ceasefire will be intensified, with monthly updates on signatories’ “commitment to the ceasefire and respect for the civilian population”. He said that “naturally, evaluations will take place when incidents occur that are related to the murder of demobilised former combatants, social leaders, and members of the security forces,” citing the example of six soldiers who were killed after walking onto a minefield in Valdivia municipality, Antioquia department, on 4 July.
- The commander of Colombia’s national police, General William Salamanca, yesterday announced the destruction of an illegal mining operation run by the EMC’s ‘Jaime Martínez’ unit in López de Micay municipality, Cauca department. Praising the operation, President Gustavo Petro wrote on social media that “the more we destroy its economy, the more the EMC will react out of desperation but the weaker it will be”.
Looking Ahead: Yesterday, at the conclusion of a round of talks with the three EMC factions that remain in the peace process, Velásquez said that as a next step they had agreed to work with the government to provide a detailed map of the areas where they have a presence. Velásquez said that this would prevent accidental clashes that could destabilise the peace process and would pave the way for total government control over these areas in the long-term.
Don't miss our latest podcast episode: Could Petro’s Total Peace be Working?
Foreign correspondent and host
Richard McColl PhD
discusses Colombia's current situation on the latest episode of The LatinNews Podcast. Join us as we discuss the fractured EMC ceasefire, the ongoing peace negotiations, and the potential future of President Petro’s 'Total Peace' initiative.
This episode features Dr. Andrei Gómez Súarez, a Senior Researcher at the University of Winchester and General Director of Rodeemos el Dialogo.
