Colombia ends cease-fire with main FARC dissident group

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Colombia’s government said Tuesday that it has ended a cease-fire with the largest faction of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group, the Central General Staff (EMC) led by Ivan Mordisco.

Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said the decision was made after the group did not comply with President Gustavo Petro’s "Total Peace" policy, an attempt to demobilize all of the country's remaining rebel groups to resolve a conflict dating back to the 1960s.

“The order given to all military forces is to carry out offensive operations against those organizations, those blocs and fronts that deviated from the generous offer that the government continued to maintain in the search for peace,” Velasquez said at a press conference.

The FARC-EMC, which is estimated to have more than 4,000 fighters and operates in southwestern Colombia, was founded by combatants who refused to sign a 2016 peace deal between the government and FARC guerrillas that led to the disarmament of more than 13,000 rebels.

The Colombian government had agreed to the cease-fire on Oct. 16, 2023, but dissident EMC units have threatened demobilized members of the former FARC guerrilla group and attacked army members over the past few months.

A few hours after the government ended the cease-fire, the dissident group threatened the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a major UN biodiversity summit that will be held in October this year in the city of Cali.

“COP16 will fail even if they militarize the city with gringos (Americans). Mr. Gustavo Petro, your speech for the protection of nature will collapse,” the armed group said on its X account.

The government has said that security conditions are guaranteed.

The suspension does not extend to other FARC dissident factions including the Gentil Duarte, Jorge Suarez Briceno or Raul Reyes fronts. The cease-fire will be extended for three months with these groups while peace talks continue.

Velasquez said the government will conduct georeferencing to launch military offensives against Mordisco’s fighters.

The FARC-EMC operate in 209 of the nation’s 1,100 municipalities.