International
Colombia resumes talks with powerful ELN guerrilla group
| By AFP |
Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last recognized rebel group in the country, resumed formal peace talks in Venezuela Monday for the first time since they were suspended in 2019.
The talks are a push by President Gustavo Petro, who in August became Colombia’s first-ever leftist leader, and has vowed a less bellicose approach to ending violence wrought by armed groups, including leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers.
In their first meeting, the parties agreed to “resume the dialogue process with full political and ethical will,” according to a joint statement.
They added that the talks aim to “build peace” and make “tangible, urgent, and necessary” changes, highlighting the need for “permanent compromises.”
The first round of talks will last 20 days.
Colombia has suffered more than half a century of armed conflict between the state and various groups of left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug traffickers.
The ELN started as a leftist ideological movement in 1964 before turning to crime, focusing on kidnapping, extortion, attacks and drug trafficking in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela.
It has around 2,500 members, about 700 more than it did when negotiations were last broken off. The group is primarily active in the Pacific region and along the 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border with Venezuela.
Dialogue with the group started in 2016 under ex-president Juan Manuel Santos, who signed a peace treaty with the larger Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group that subsequently abandoned its weapons and created a political party.
But the talks with the ELN were called off in 2019 by conservative former president Ivan Duque following a car bomb attack on a police academy in Bogota that left 22 people dead.
Petro — himself a former guerrilla — reached out to the ELN shortly after coming to power, as part of his “total peace” policy.
The ELN peace talks delegation spent four years based in Cuba, as they had been barred from returning to Colombia by the previous government.
They traveled to Venezuela last month, where the fresh round of talks was announced.
Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez warned that the negotiations do not imply a “suspension of operations” against the ELN.
“If there is an encounter with someone who has an arrest warrant, they must be captured… There is no ceasefire,” he said.
‘We all have to change’
Colombian peace commissioner Ivan Danilo Rueda hailed a “historic moment” for the country after the meeting.
“We are here honoring life, the lives of so many beings who are no longer here,” Rueda said. “Murdered, disappeared.”
ELN delegate Pablo Beltran said he hoped the dialogue would be “an instrument of change… and we hope we won’t fail.”
“In Colombia, we all have to change” and “overcome the dynamic of death,” he said.
Caracas is hosting the first meeting, and the talks will rotate between the other guarantors Cuba and Norway.
A statement from the guarantor nations said Monday’s meeting was “an important step to achieve peace.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres’s special envoy in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, called on “the parties and Colombian society to take advantage of this historic opportunity.”
“I reiterate the support of the Secretary General @antonioguterres to this process,” he wrote on Twitter.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro hailed the process as “a message of hope for a peaceful Latin America and Caribbean,” at a rally in the capital.
International
Wildfires Burn Nearly 7,800 Hectares in France as Extreme Heat Fuels Fire Risk
Wildfires have burned approximately 7,800 hectares across France during the first eight days of July, already surpassing the more than 4,400 hectares destroyed throughout the entire month of July 2025, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) analyzed by AFP.
Authorities have maintained the highest wildfire alert across much of southern France as soaring temperatures and strengthening winds continue to increase the risk of new outbreaks.
Early-season fires in the departments of Pyrénées-Orientales, Drôme, and Hérault have prompted the deployment of significant firefighting personnel and equipment from across the country as emergency services work to contain the blazes.
Officials continue to monitor weather conditions closely, warning that persistent heat and strong winds could further complicate firefighting efforts in the coming days.
International
USAR El Salvador Helps Rescue Dogs Trapped for 12 Days Beneath Earthquake Rubble
Stories of survival continue to emerge from Venezuela following the powerful 7.5- and 7.2-magnitude earthquakes that struck the country on June 24. In recent days, social media has highlighted the rescue of several dogs that survived for nearly two weeks beneath collapsed buildings.
One of the rescues involved Milo, a small-breed dog that was spotted trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building. The operation was carried out jointly by members of USAR El Salvador, Topos Azteca, and Topos Azteca Nayarit, who safely brought the animal to the surface after 12 days.
Another dog, Draco, a black-and-tan Chihuahua, was rescued from the rubble of an apartment building in La Guaira. Relatives searching for missing pets were guided by the dog’s faint barking. After being rescued, Draco received first aid and hydration from a veterinary team before being transferred to a specialized clinic for further medical treatment.
Meanwhile, the Armed Force of El Salvador announced that another rescued dog, Fénix, has begun a new chapter in El Salvador. According to the institution, the mixed-breed dog was rescued by its Humanitarian Rescue Unit (UHR) and has since been adopted by the team.
The Armed Force said Fénix will be trained as a search-and-rescue dog and is expected to join the UHR in future emergency response missions, becoming part of the unit dedicated to saving lives.
International
UN Appeals for $296 Million in Emergency Aid Following Venezuela Earthquakes
Tom Fletcher, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, is currently in Venezuela, where he has been meeting with government officials to assess the country’s humanitarian response following the recent earthquakes.
During a virtual meeting on Wednesday with ministers organized by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Fletcher issued an urgent appeal for $296 million to fund emergency relief operations.
“We have a clear plan. We need $296 million to address the socioeconomic needs of 1.3 million people over the next six months. It is a time-bound plan,” Fletcher said. He also acknowledged the support already received, adding, “Donors are stepping up, and I pay tribute to them and thank them.”
The emergency appeal comes in addition to the $632 million humanitarian response plan launched earlier this year for Venezuela, where nearly eight million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance before the earthquakes.
According to UN officials, that plan had secured only $115 million in funding before the twin earthquakes struck. Following a new wave of international contributions, the total funding has now reached $300 million.
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