Colombia suspends ceasefire with FARC dissident guerrillas in three areas

The Colombian government suspended on Sunday (17) the bilateral ceasefire in three areas of the country with the guerrillas of the Central General Staff (EMC), a dissident group of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), according to a decree.

The decision came after an attack committed on Saturday (16), allegedly carried out by the bloc made up of former FARC members.

EMC is one of the factions that rejects the peace agreement signed between the FARC and the Colombian State in 2016.

The attack that led to the government's decision took place against an indigenous community in the Cauca area, in southwestern Colombia, and the suspension of the ceasefire affects the departments of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca.

The attack in Cauca left one person dead and several injured, according to a message published on X, formerly Twitter, from Colombia's Presidential Advisor for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

“The EMC of Cauca, on its different fronts, has not given any sign since the beginning of wanting a serious peace process,” wrote the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro.

“I should have recognized that different EMC fronts in other parts of the country were more respectful towards the conduct of the peace process,” he added.

In another message, Petro said the armed attack was “a crime against humanity” that “must be judged as such”.

A CNN is trying to obtain comments from representatives of the Central General Staff.

The government of Colombia and EMC announced a ceasefire agreement in October 2023.

Source: CNN Brasil

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