Rebels in Colombia attack military patrol with drone, killing 3 soldiers
The army blamed the attack on the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a group of approximately six thousand fighters that has been fighting the Colombian government since the 1960s. The attack took place Sunday outside the town of El Carmen in the Catatumbo region, the military said in a statement.
Rebel groups in Colombia are increasingly using drones to attack the military and to attack each other as they fight for control of rural areas. They mostly use commercial photography drones with explosives strapped to them, flying them straight into their targets.
Colombia's Defense Ministry says that rebel groups launched 115 drone attacks last year. Sunday's drone attack is the one of the deadliest on record.
Colombia's government has struggled to contain violence in rural areas that were formerly under the control of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the guerrilla group that made peace with the government in 2016.
Several smaller rebel groups and drug gangs are now fighting over the control of areas abandoned by the FARC, where illicit activities like drug trafficking and illegal mining are common.
In January, Colombia's government suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, following a spate of attacks in the Catatumbo region, in which at least 80 people were killed and 50,000 were forced to flee their homes.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Japan Today
29-07-2025
- Japan Today
Colombia ex-president Uribe guilty of abuse of process, bribery of a public official
Former Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe visits the hospital where Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is being treated after he was shot during a campaign event, in Bogota, Colombia, June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez/File Photo By Luis Jaime Acosta A judge on Monday found Colombian former President Alvaro Uribe guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a years-long witness-tampering case, making the right-wing politician the country's first ex-president ever convicted at trial. Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia read her decision aloud to the court. She found Uribe not guilty of a third charge, bribery. The ruling, which Uribe is expected to appeal, is the latest decision in a hugely politicized case that has run for some 13 years. Uribe, 73, and his supporters say the process is a persecution and that he is innocent. His detractors have celebrated it as the deserved downfall for a man who has been repeatedly accused of close relationships with violent right-wing paramilitaries, but never convicted of any crime. Each charge carries a jail sentence of between six and 12 years. Heredia is expected to sentence Uribe in a later hearing. "Justice does not kneel before power," Heredia told the court on Monday morning, before spending about nine hours reading her decision. "It is at the service of the Colombian people." "We want to say to Colombia that justice has arrived," she said, adding that her full decision is some 1,000 pages long. Uribe and one of his lawyers, Jaime Granados, joined the hearing via video link, while another lawyer, Jaime Lombana, appeared in person. Granados said the presumption of Uribe's innocence should be maintained and asked for him to remain free during the remainder of the process, a decision Heredia said she will take on Friday. Both detractors and supporters of the former president gathered outside the court, with some Uribe backers sporting masks of his face. Even if the conviction is eventually upheld, Uribe may be allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest because of his age. Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010 and oversaw a military offensive against leftist guerrilla groups, was investigated along with several allies over allegations of witness tampering carried out in an attempt to discredit accusations he had ties to paramilitaries. Judges have twice rejected requests by prosecutors to shelve the case, which stems from Uribe's allegation in 2012 that leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda had orchestrated a plot to tie him to paramilitaries. The Supreme Court said in 2018 that Cepeda had collected information from former fighters as part of his work and had not paid or pressured former paramilitaries. Instead, the court said it was Uribe and his allies who pressured witnesses. Cepeda attended the hearing in person with his counsel. Uribe's trial triggered sharp criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of the judge's decision. Uribe had a close relationship with the U.S. during his two terms as president. "Uribe's only crime has been to tirelessly fight and defend his homeland. The weaponization of Colombia's judicial branch by radical judges has now set a worrisome precedent," Rubio said on X. "A decision against the ex-president could generate some kind of reprisal by the government of the United States," Banco de Bogota said in a note on Monday, referring to a proposal by U.S. Republican lawmaker Mario Diaz-Balart to cut non-military aid to Colombia next year, partly on concerns of due process violations in the Uribe case. Uribe, who was placed under house arrest for two months in 2020, is head of the powerful Democratic Center party and was a senator for years both before and after his presidency. He has repeatedly emphasized that he extradited paramilitary leaders to the United States. Colombia's truth commission says paramilitary groups, which demobilized under deals with Uribe's government, killed more than 205,000 people, nearly half of the 450,000 deaths recorded during the ongoing civil conflict. Paramilitaries, along with guerrilla groups and members of the armed forces, also committed forced disappearances, sexual violence, displacement and other crimes. Uribe joins a list of Latin American leaders who have been convicted and sometimes jailed, including Peru's Alberto Fujimori, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Argentina's Cristina Fernandez and Panama's Ricardo Martinelli. © (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.
Japan Today
21-07-2025
- Japan Today
Rebels in Colombia attack military patrol with drone, killing 3 soldiers
Rebels in northeastern Colombia used a drone to attack a military patrol in a rural area, killing three soldiers and injuring eight, the military said. The army blamed the attack on the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a group of approximately six thousand fighters that has been fighting the Colombian government since the 1960s. The attack took place Sunday outside the town of El Carmen in the Catatumbo region, the military said in a statement. Rebel groups in Colombia are increasingly using drones to attack the military and to attack each other as they fight for control of rural areas. They mostly use commercial photography drones with explosives strapped to them, flying them straight into their targets. Colombia's Defense Ministry says that rebel groups launched 115 drone attacks last year. Sunday's drone attack is the one of the deadliest on record. Colombia's government has struggled to contain violence in rural areas that were formerly under the control of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the guerrilla group that made peace with the government in 2016. Several smaller rebel groups and drug gangs are now fighting over the control of areas abandoned by the FARC, where illicit activities like drug trafficking and illegal mining are common. In January, Colombia's government suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, following a spate of attacks in the Catatumbo region, in which at least 80 people were killed and 50,000 were forced to flee their homes. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Mainichi
08-06-2025
- The Mainichi
Colombian senator and would-be presidential candidate is shot and wounded at Bogota rally
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombian Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country's presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it "an unacceptable act of violence." The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former President Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay, 39, covered in blood being held by several people. A medical report from the Santa Fe Foundation hospital said the senator was admitted in critical condition and is undergoing a "neurosurgical and peripheral vascular procedure." "Miguel is fighting for his life," his wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, wrote on the senator's X account, urging Colombians to pray for him. The Attorney General's Office, which is investigating the shooting, said the senator received two gunshot wounds in the attack, which wounded two others. The statement from the office said a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene with a firearm. Colombia's government said it was offering a reward for the capture of all those responsible. "Respect life, that's the red line," President Gustavo Petro said in a message posted on his X account. Shortly after making the post, Petro canceled a planned trip to France "due to the seriousness of the events," according to a presidential statement. Uribe Turbay is the son of a journalist who was kidnapped and killed in 1991 during one of the country's most violent periods. Colombia will hold a presidential election on May 31, 2026, marking the end of the current term of Petro, Colombia's first leftist president. The senator announced his presidential bid in March. Colombian police chief Gen. Carlos Triana said that at the time of the attack Uribe Turbay was accompanied by Councilman Andres Barrios and 20 other people. A minor who allegedly participated in the attack was apprehended at the scene and was being treated for a leg injury, he said. "I have ordered the Colombian military and police forces and intelligence agencies to deploy all their capabilities to urgently clarify the facts," said Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that the "United State condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination of Senator Miguel Uribe." and he urged President Petro "to dial back the inflammatory rhetoric and protect Colombian officials." "This is a direct threat to democracy and the result of the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government," Rubio said. Reactions poured in from around Latin America, with Chilean President Gabriel Boric saying "there is no room or justification for violence in a democracy," and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa saying "we condemn all forms of violence and intolerance." Both presidents offered solidarity to the senator's family. In Colombia, former President Uribe said "they attacked the hope of the country, a great husband, father, son, brother, a great colleague."
