The Government of Colombia announced this Sunday, March 17, that it will suspend, starting next Wednesday, the ceasefire with the armed group Estado Mayor Central (EMC), a dissident group of the extinct FARC guerrilla, in three departments of the country.
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The Colombian Government announced that it will suspend from Wednesday, March 20 in three departments of the country the bilateral ceasefire with the Central General Staff (EMC), the main dissident of the FARC, after that group attacked an indigenous community in the southwest of the country, leaving three injured.
Through a decree signed by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, the Executive ordered “to suspend the Bilateral and Temporary Ceasefire of a National nature with Territorial Impact (CFBTNT) between the National Government and the Central General Staff of the FARC-EP in the departments of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca”.
The decree orders “the resumption of offensive military operations and police operations starting at 00:00 on March 20, 2024 against the structures of the Central General Staff of the FARC-EP present in the Departments of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca”.
The Government and the EMC have been carrying out peace negotiations since last year, As a result of which on October 17 they began a bilateral and temporary ceasefire that in January was extended for six months, until July 15.
The suspension of the ceasefire applies in three departments of the Colombian Pacific where the EMC has a large presence, mainly with the Dagoberto Ramos column and the Carlos Patiño front.
The attack against the indigenous community was carried out on Saturday by the Dagoberto Ramos column in the hamlet of La Bodega, in Toribío (Cauca), when the community tried to prevent members of that armed group from taking an indigenous minor, according to the Association of Indigenous Councils of Toribío, Tacueyó and San Francisco.
We reject the attacks against the population and indigenous guard in Cauca.
We call on institutions and the government to guarantee security in the territory and on the Central General Staff of the FARC dissidents to fulfill the ceasefire commitment. https://t.co/IslEp2BWT0
— Oxfam Colombia (@OxfamColombia) March 17, 2024
“The response from these criminals, without saying a word, was to shoot indiscriminately at the community,” seriously wounding Carmelina Yuli Paví, guard and leader of the Nasa de Toribío people, and community member Rodrigo Ul Musicué, while a third person was grazed by a bullet, the councils noted.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro described what happened as a violation of the bilateral ceasefire.
“The EMC of Cauca on its different fronts did not give any sign from the beginning of wanting a serious peace process. It believed, very wrongly, that the negotiation was to strengthen itself militarily and that its strengthening was done by subjecting the population to its structures and financing themselves with the illicit economy and with large illicit capital,” added the president.
The EMC of Cauca on its different fronts did not give any sign from the beginning of wanting a serious peace process. He believed, very wrongly, that the negotiation was to strengthen himself militarily and that his strengthening was done by subjecting the population to his… https://t.co/T3byPuFVqf
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 17, 2024
Likewise, the association stated that attacks like yesterday's, perpetrated by a group that negotiates peace with the Government, “lead to the physical and cultural extermination of our communities.”
For this reason, they requested “the national government to suspend the bilateral ceasefire signed with the Central General Staff of the FARC dissidents, since they cannot be sitting at a dialogue table, while crimes against humanity continue to be committed in the territories. “.
The Office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, for its part, condemned the attack in Toribío and asked the State to provide guarantees and protection to the Nasa people, “a community with collective protection measures from the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights).”
The Government and the then FARC guerrilla signed a peace agreement in November 2016 to end 52 years of conflict.
However, some guerrillas opposed the agreement and others were expelled from the armed group for not assuming the guidelines of the FARC hierarchy.
Currently, these dissidents operate especially in departments in the south of the country, such as Nariño, on the border with Ecuador.
With EFE
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