President Gustavo Petro has invoked emergency powers to quell violence in Colombia's Catatumbo region, where dissident rebel groups are engaged in a fierce battle for control. The decree grants Petro broad authority to impose curfews, restrict movement, and take other extraordinary measures.
Colombia 's president issued an emergency decree Friday giving him sweeping powers to restore order in a coca-growing region bordering Venezuela plagued by a deadly turf war between dissident rebel groups . President Gustavo Petro's decree allows him to impose curfews, restrict traffic and take other extraordinary measures that would normally violate Colombia ns' civil rights or require congressional approval.
This marks the first time in over a decade that a Colombian president has used such extreme tactics, highlighting the severity of the current conflict in a nation that has long grappled with political violence. However, the decree's authority is limited to the rural Catatumbo region near the Venezuelan border. In the past week, fighting has intensified between the National Liberation Army, or ELN, and holdouts from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Earlier this week, Petro reactivated arrest warrants against 31 top ELN commanders that had been suspended as part of an attempt to entice the Cuban revolution-inspired insurgency into a peace deal to end its 60-year war against the state. The ELN has traditionally held sway in Catatumbo but has been steadily losing ground to FARC holdouts, a guerrilla group that largely demobilized after signing a peace agreement with the government in 2016. The ongoing conflict is spilling over into Venezuela, where some of those fleeing the violence have sought refuge.
Colombia President Petro Emergency Decree Rebel Groups Catatumbo Region ELN FARC Venezuela
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