Latest news with #FARC-EMC
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Four killed in wave of bomb, gun attacks across southwest Colombia
Southwest Colombia has been rocked by a series of explosions and gun attacks near police stations that have left at least four people dead, according to police, an apparent coordinated attack that authorities have blamed on rebel groups. The attacks hit Cali – the country's third-largest city – and the nearby towns of Corinto, El Bordo, and Jamundi, targeting police stations and other municipal buildings with car and motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone, the head of police Carlos Fernando Triana told local radio station La FM on Tuesday. The bombings came just days after the attempted assassination of presidential hopeful Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay at a campaign rally in the capital Bogota, allegedly by a 15-year-old hitman, an attack that rattled a nation with a dark past of assassinations. In Corinto, an AFP journalist witnessed the tangled wreckage of a car that had exploded next to a scorched and badly damaged municipal building. 'There are two police officers dead, and a number of members of the public are also dead,' said Triana. Police later said at least two civilians were among those killed, and 12 others were injured. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks, but military and police spokespeople blamed the strikes on the FARC-EMC, which is known to operate in the area. The group is led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who broke away from the group after it signed a peace deal with the government in 2016. Triana suggested the attacks may be linked to the third anniversary of the killing of FARC dissident leader Leider Johani Noscue, better known as 'Mayimbu'. The bombings just three days after Uribe's attempted assassination have set Colombia further on edge. Uribe, a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Centre party, underwent successful initial surgery on Sunday. The hospital treating him said on Tuesday that he remained stable but in critical condition. 'We continue to take the necessary actions to mitigate the impact of the injuries,' the Santa Fe Foundation hospital added in a statement. Thousands have taken to the streets in major cities to light candles, pray and voice their anger at the assassination attempt. Authorities say they are investigating who was behind the attack on Uribe. Leftist President Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to bring peace to the country, said on Sunday that he had ordered additional security for opposition leaders in response to more threats. Many Colombians are fearful of a return to the bloody violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when cartel attacks and political assassinations were frequent, sowing terror across the nation. Colombia's government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the FARC after its peace deal with the government. Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on Indigenous communities.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Four killed in wave of bomb, gun attacks across southwest Colombia
Southwest Colombia has been rocked by a series of explosions and gun attacks near police stations that have left at least four people dead, according to police, an apparent coordinated attack that authorities have blamed on rebel groups. The attacks hit Cali – the country's third-largest city – and the nearby towns of Corinto, El Bordo, and Jamundi, targeting police stations and other municipal buildings with car and motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone, the head of police Carlos Fernando Triana told local radio station La FM on Tuesday. The bombings came just days after the attempted assassination of presidential hopeful Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay at a campaign rally in the capital Bogota, allegedly by a 15-year-old hitman, an attack that rattled a nation with a dark past of assassinations. In Corinto, an AFP journalist witnessed the tangled wreckage of a car that had exploded next to a scorched and badly damaged municipal building. 'There are two police officers dead, and a number of members of the public are also dead,' said Triana. Police later said at least two civilians were among those killed, and 12 others were injured. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks, but military and police spokespeople blamed the strikes on the FARC-EMC, which is known to operate in the area. The group is led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who broke away from the group after it signed a peace deal with the government in 2016. Triana suggested the attacks may be linked to the third anniversary of the killing of FARC dissident leader Leider Johani Noscue, better known as 'Mayimbu'. The bombings just three days after Uribe's attempted assassination have set Colombia further on edge. Uribe, a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Centre party, underwent successful initial surgery on Sunday. The hospital treating him said on Tuesday that he remained stable but in critical condition. 'We continue to take the necessary actions to mitigate the impact of the injuries,' the Santa Fe Foundation hospital added in a statement. Thousands have taken to the streets in major cities to light candles, pray and voice their anger at the assassination attempt. Authorities say they are investigating who was behind the attack on Uribe. Leftist President Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to bring peace to the country, said on Sunday that he had ordered additional security for opposition leaders in response to more threats. Many Colombians are fearful of a return to the bloody violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when cartel attacks and political assassinations were frequent, sowing terror across the nation. Colombia's government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the FARC after its peace deal with the government. Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on Indigenous communities.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Colombia Rebel Groups Are Using Social Media As A Recruiting Tool
Guerrillas from the FARC-EMC have continued their campaign against the Colombian government and are ... More recruiting via social media (AP Photo/Edwin Rodriguez) Social media platforms have become echo chambers for those with strong political stances to receive affirmation for their beliefs. This has also allowed for the networks to be employed as a recruiting tool for extremist and fringe groups with minimal resource allocation. Social media allows fringe groups to cast a wide net in those recruiting operations. As reported last year, little effort has been made to stamp it out. Now, there are reports that rebel groups in Colombia have taken to Facebook and TikTok to connect with children and young adults. The Associated Press reported this week that the United Nations' top human rights official has called for greater intervention from the platforms, and said the companies—which make billions of dollars—should be required to invest in automated tools as well as human moderators to track down videos that are targeted at marginalized communities. Among one of the most prolific groups is the infamous FARC-EMC, which has posted videos that "glamorize life in their ranks" as a recruiting effort. TikTok, which has become one of the most popular social media platforms globally, has seen a sharp rise in videos aimed at the youth, highlighting the wealth disparity in the South American nation. "These companies are not putting enough resources into online content moderation in the global south," Campbell told the AP. TikTok responded that it has developed community guidelines that ban the sharing of hateful or violent content, and claimed it has been working with authorities in Colombia, while Facebook parent Meta has said it has a policy to ban terrorist organizations. "Social Media is a megaphone. It is, was, and will amplify all the voice, but now we hear much more loudly the voices that we don't like. Of course, it is a concern," said technology industry analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. Even as those companies claim to be addressing the problem, experts warn that there is more than could be done. Hateful content can be produced faster than the platforms can respond, and the result is like the mythical hydra—cut off one head and two more grow back in its place! Technology may not be the answer either. "Social media platforms have been used as a recruiting platform in this manner for a very long time," explained Dr. Cliff Lampe, professor of information and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Michigan. "There's not much that can be done about this at the platform level," warned Lampe. "If a page or account is shut down, it's very easy to start new ones. One can try to use AI to detect bad behavior, but from the AI perspective, recruiting for extremist organizations looks like recruiting for almost anything else. It's not a problem with a very easy technical solution at all. The other concern is that while stamping out hate speech and combating the recruitment efforts of extremist groups does seem like the proper course of action, it needs to be remembered too that social media played a key role in the Arab Spring movement, and in other pro-democracy demonstrations. Many of the videos being shared by FARC-EMC—a faction of the revolutionary group that has refused to demobilize after FARC concluded a 2016 peace pact with the Colombian government—offer a "gangsta" lifestyle of money, women and cars that aren't that different from some modern music videos. However, others push a narrative of social injustice in Colombian society that isn't all that different from the pro-democracy videos shared within Iran or neighboring Venezuela. "One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter," suggested Entner. "Social media is in a damned if you do, damned if you don't position. Where does free speech begin and end in politics when it changes after every election?"
Associated Press
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Rights group says Colombian rebels committed abuses against civilians in disputed region
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A prominent human rights group said Wednesday that rebel groups in Colombia committed 'grave abuses' against civilians as they fight for control of the Catatumbo, a resource-rich region along Colombia's border with Venezuela. In a 12-page report, Human Rights Watch accused the rebels of executing unarmed farmers and forcibly recruiting dozens of children into their ranks. The group also called on Colombia's government to speed up investigations into homicides in Catatumbo, where at least 78 people were killed in January and February, after a truce ended between rebel groups in the area. 'Our research points to widespread abuses against ordinary people,' said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director for HRW. According to the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, more than 56,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the Catatumbo region since Jan. 16, when the National Liberation Army, or ELN, launched a violent campaign to strengthen its grip on the area. Human Rights Watch said that in some villages, the rebels dragged people out of their homes and shot those who they accused of being collaborators of a rival group known as the FARC-EMC. Human Rights Watch interviewed 65 people for its investigation, including judicial officials, aid workers and displaced farmers. 'It seems that the ELN is trying to control the border with Venezuela, partly due to the drug trade,' said Juan Pappier, Human Rights Watch deputy director for the Americas. 'And for that they've long benefited from the complicity of Venezuelan security forces.' Some people who fled the Catatumbo region told Human Rights Watch that the ELN executed farmers in front of their families. Others accused the FARC-EMC group of running forced labor camps, where local people who were accused of committing crimes were forced to cut sugar cane for more than 12 hours a day. Human Rights Watch urged Colombia's Attorney General's office to increase the number of prosecutors and investigators in the Catatumbo region, and to provide protection for them, so that these crimes can be further investigated. The Colombian government suspended peace talks with the ELN on Jan. 20, after news emerged of the ELN's attacks on several villages in Catatumbo. President Gustavo Petro, who was a member of a rebel group during his youth, has accused the ELN's leadership of becoming 'greedy' drug traffickers and of abandoning their revolutionary ideals. Violence decreased in Colombia following a 2016 peace deal with the nation's largest rebel group, FARC, in which more than 13,000 fighters laid down their weapons. But some isolated areas, including the Catatumbo region, have seen an uptick in homicides, extorsion and forced displacement, as smaller groups fight for control of territories abandoned by the FARC.
