Bogotá, March 18.- The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, announced on Sunday the suspension of the ceasefire with the dissidents of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in three departments of the South American country.
The measure was taken after the armed group attacked an indigenous community in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, leaving at least three injured.
In the decree, signed by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, the Executive ordered the suspension of the bilateral ceasefire between the Government and the Central General Staff (EMC) of the FARC-EP in the departments of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca .
They also indicated that starting at midnight on March 20, military operations and police operations against the structures of the dissident group of the extinct FARC will resume in the regions of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca.
The Colombian Government accused the EMC of failing to comply with the guidelines for the cessation of hostilities by attacking the civilian population, civil authorities and members of the Public Force, and showing little will for peace in the departments already mentioned.
The Colombian head of state highlighted that the main purposes of the ceasefires are to de-escalate the armed conflict, strengthen peace dialogues for territorial transformations and protect the civil population in its rights and freedoms.
The events that put an end to the ceasefire were perpetrated in the hamlet of La Bodega, in Toribio (Cauca), when the Nasa community tried to prevent members of the EMC from taking a minor from that indigenous community.
The Colombian Government and the EMC have been carrying out peace negotiations since 2023, as a result of which on October 17 they began a bilateral ceasefire that last January was extended for six months, until July 15. (Telesur) (Photo: EFE)
