The Colombian government on Tuesday suspended a cease-fire with a major faction of Marxist guerrillas, highlighting the challenges to President Gustavo Petro’s attempts to rein in violence.
The background: Back in 2016, the Colombian government signed a historic peace deal with the FARC, the country’s largest rebel group. Dissident fighters who rejected those accords formed the EMC, which operates in about two-thirds of Colombia’s provinces and often provides social services that the government cannot.
Since last year, the government has been talking peace with the EMC, which has split into two main factions. The government has canceled the cease-fire with the larger of the two because its fighters have violated its terms, but it remains in talks with the smaller one.
The EMC negotiations have run alongside efforts to reach peace with other holdout Marxist groups and drug cartels, which have expanded into territory abandoned by the FARC.
Petro, a leftist former guerilla himself, was elected in 2022 in part on pledges to secure “total peace” by focusing on poverty and other root causes of militancy. But amid rising violence, he’s run into a problem: Without a firmer state presence and control, it’s hard to win local hearts and minds with social policy.
For more: See our 2022 interview with Petro here.
America’s new National Security Strategy confirms what Europeans have feared for months: Washington now sees a strong, unified European Union as a problem to be solved, not an ally to be supported.
In this episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with Ed Policy, President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, to discuss how purpose-driven leadership and innovation are shaping the future of one of the world’s most iconic sports franchises. Ed shares how technology and community-focused initiatives, from Titletown Tech to health and safety innovations on the field, are transforming not just the game of football, but the economy and culture of Green Bay itself. He explains how combining strategic vision with investment in local startups is keeping talent in the Midwest and creating opportunities that extend far beyond Lambeau Field.
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More than a week after Hondurans cast their ballots in a presidential election, the country is still stuck in a potentially-dangerous post-election fog.