International
Colombia and FARC dissidents agree on ceasefire protocol
February 9th |
The Colombian government announced on Wednesday that it had achieved a protocol that will make it possible to verify the ceasefire agreed with a faction of the dissidents of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP), which did not adhere to the peace agreement signed by the guerrillas and the state in 2016.
The protocol was an essential missing element in the bilateral ceasefire with the self-styled FARC-EP Central General Staff dissidents, which went into effect from January 1 until June 30, 2023, according to the Colombian government.
The government also agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the Segunda Marquetalia – another faction of FARC dissidents -, the Autodefensas de la Sierra Nevada and the Clan del Golfo cartel, however, the protocols that will apply to these armed groups have not been disclosed.
In a communiqué, the government detailed that the protocol with the FARC-EP Central General Staff “prohibits the transit or permanence” of the illegal armed group in the head towns of the municipalities, rural areas and primary roads to avoid “any affectation to the life and physical integrity of the civilian population”.
In the urban areas of several municipalities of the country, the presence of groups of armed men dressed in camouflaged suits has been registered in the last year, walking through the streets intimidating the population and without being immediately stopped by the public forces. The last of these happened a week ago in Yarumal, in the northwest of the country, where armed men entered a school and interacted with the children.
The ceasefire verification and monitoring mechanism will include delegates from the Ministry of Defense, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and an international component, which was not detailed by the government. It will also be accompanied by members of civil society, the Catholic Church and other religious communities.
This mechanism, the government explained, will issue technical concepts and elaborate recommendations to prevent and address possible incidents or non-compliance.
“The Public Force will continue to exercise its national security and defense obligations,” the official communiqué stressed.
The bilateral ceasefires are part of a strategy of President Gustavo Petro – the first leftist in the country and a guerrilla militant in his youth – to achieve “total peace”, which in practice consists of rapprochements and peace talks with multiple armed groups operating in the country and maintaining confrontations.
The state Ombudsman’s Office documented in a recent report that between January 1 and 20 several illegal groups carried out armed actions in the framework of the ceasefire, including harassment against police stations and the kidnapping of several soldiers, who were later released.
Petro said on Wednesday from Yarumal, at the end of a security council, that ceasefires in Colombia could not consist only in the suspension of hostilities between two armies, given that although statistics have shown in recent weeks a decrease in the number of wounded and dead, other crimes such as extortion, drug trafficking and smuggling may be on the rise.
For the president, the ceasefire must include an end to hostility against the civilian population so that there are no massacres, murders of human rights defenders, displacements, confinements or anti-personnel mines.
International
Seven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
Mexican authorities discovered seven lifeless bodies on Wednesday, showing clear signs of torture, in the rural area of Culiacán, Sinaloa, just one day after the same number of bodies was found in several municipalities in the western state of Mexico.
Six of these seven victims were found along the side of the highway that connects Culiacán to Mazatlán, near Laguna de Canachi, according to local media reports, which also noted that messages addressed to a criminal group were found near the bodies.
This brings the total number of violent deaths in the region to seven within just 24 hours. On Tuesday, authorities reported more victims found in the municipalities of Culiacán, Elota, and Mazatlán.
Among the victims identified was a local cattle rancher named Ramón Velázquez Ontiveros, as well as a police officer from Mazatlán, who was killed by a motorcyclist outside his home in San Marcos.
International
Málaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
Thousands of people were evacuated and trains were suspended as torrential rains once again struck Spain on Wednesday, following the devastating floods that killed at least 223 people two weeks ago, most of them in the Valencia region.
The national meteorological agency (Aemet) issued a maximum, red-level alert for the Andalusian province of Málaga in the south, and for Tarragona in the northeast, due to the new DANA (isolated depression at high levels), also known as a cold drop.
The city of Málaga appeared to be the hardest hit by the rains, with more than 3,000 people evacuated from 1,000 homes near rivers, flooded streets, and the suspension of urban transport and train services to Madrid.
“Today Málaga is paralyzed,” said Andalusia’s regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno, to reporters. “I know it is a problem for citizens not being able to take their children to school or go to work, but after what we saw in Valencia, we need to ‘prevent’ and minimize the impact in terms of loss of life,” he added.
The storm also led to the postponement of a match between Spain and Poland in the Billie Jean King Cup women’s tennis competition, which was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Málaga.
International
Hezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday that it launched an attack with explosive drones against the Israeli army’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The Iran-backed organization reported in a statement that it had carried out “an aerial attack with a squadron of explosive drones” targeting the site that houses Israel’s main defense institutions.
Hezbollah later stated that it also fired a barrage of rockets at the Glilot military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military indicated that “sirens sounded in several areas of northern and central Israel following the launch of projectiles from Lebanon.”
It later clarified that “five projectiles were identified over the territory, and some were intercepted.”
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