EMC bombings complicate talks
May 22, 2024
Colombian President Gustavo Petro could fully suspend a ceasefire with the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) rebel group, Defense Minister Ivan Velásquez said yesterday, in response to attacks attributed to the group in the southeastern province of Cauca.
At least seven people were injured in a bomb blast in Jamundi on Monday, and four people (including two officers) were killed in an insurgent attack on a police station in the rural town of Morales. The army said it had sent 100 soldiers to the town, where police said more explosive devices have been found in the streets, reports the AFP.
The 3,500-strong EMC are a dissident group that rejected the landmark 2016 peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The EMC entered peace talks with the Petro government last year, but Petro partially suspended a ceasefire with them in three provinces in March because of violence, reports Reuters.
The talks have been complicated by internal divisions within the rebel group, reported InSight Crime earlier this month.
A faction of the EMC withdrew from peace talks with the government a month ago, and has since staged a series of attacks on military and police, including a roadside bomb last Friday that killed an 11-year-old.
Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia analyst at the International Crisis Group, told the Associated Press that Monday’s attacks show that the EMC’s western faction is trying to set itself apart by becoming “the only armed or criminal group in Colombia that is directly attacking the state.”
Dickinson said the FARC-EMC’s western front, which is led by commander Ivan Mordisco, could end up splitting from EMC groups in eastern Colombia that are still involved in peace talks with the government.
Regional
“Recent reports from military operations and civil society groups indicate that the presence of Brazilian miners in the south of Venezuela is growing following a government offensive in Brazil,” according to InSight Crime.
“In a way, a sort of balloon effect is taking place. Under President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, the Brazilian government has increased operations aimed at eradicating illegal mining in the Brazilian Amazon, turning Venezuela into an escape valve, where until now they have not been pursued as aggressively,” explains InSight Crime.
Ecuador
“The decision by Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa to announce that the country is in an “internal armed conflict” has contributed to serious human rights violations by security forces, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Noboa. The violations include at least one apparent extrajudicial killing and multiple cases of arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment.”
Haiti
Kenyan special forces police who have spent time battling al-Shabaab fighters in east Africa are among the officers who are expected to arrive in Haiti in the coming days to form part of an international security mission to aid Haitian police battle powerful gangs. The officers are arriving this week, as Kenyan President William Ruto is on a state visit in Washington DC. A total of about 1,000 Kenyan agents are expected to join the mission, as well as officers from Chile, Jamaica, Grenada, Paraguay, Burundi, Chad, Nigeria and Mauritius. (Guardian, see yesterday’s post.)
El Salvador
The latest U.S. State Department Human Rights report details severe violations and abuses committed by El Salvador’s government, “and yet, the U.S. document tries to whitewash the Salvadoran government enough to avoid any diplomatic confrontation” with President Nayib Bukele, reports José Luis Sanz in El Faro.
Bukele and the IMF are in a game of chicken, according to James Bosworth: If the IMF decides not to give El Salvador new support over the next year and a half, they will be blamed by Bukele for the increased financial costs of a bond that increases interest in such an eventuality, challenging a future bailout. “Any sort of financial crisis in El Salvador could spill over into other countries in Central America, making the IMF's job that much harder. However, if the IMF appear to cede to El Salvador's pressure and agree to a deal, other countries may attempt similar bond clauses.” — Latin America Risk Report
Nicaragua
Nicaragua’s National Police appeared to confirm that retired Gen. Humberto Ortega, brother of President Daniel Ortega, has been under guard for days, though without explaining why, reports the Associated Press.
Regional Relations
Spain has said it is permanently withdrawing its ambassador from Argentina as a result of a growing diplomatic feud with libertarian Argentine leader Javier Milei, reports the Guardian. (See yesterdays briefs.)
Guatemala’s extradition of an alleged Guatemalan drug trafficker linked to the Sinaloa Cartel is a blow to one of the country’s most infamous drug clans, Los Pochos. But the group is well-positioned to weather U.S. pressure, according to InSight Crime.
Brazil
Stranded for nearly three weeks by record flooding in southern Brazil, the tiny Mbya Guarani Indigenous community is determined not to evacuate what they consider sacred ancestral lands that are in dispute with real estate developers, reports Reuters.
Peru
A March collision between two oil barges in the Peruvian Amazon led to an oil spill in the Puinahua River, near Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, a protected region of rainforest, reports Mongabay. “Since the spill, local Indigenous communities, who almost exclusively depend on the river for their livelihoods, have been unable to collect water or fish due to fear of contamination.”
Critter Corner
A heatwave in Mexico is killing howler monkeys in Tabasco state, where they are falling dead from the trees “like apples,” reports the Guardian. Experts say the dozens of deaths in recent weeks are due to a combination of factors including high heat, drought, forest fires and logging that deprives the monkeys of water, shade and the fruit they eat.