Colombia ends cease-fire with largest faction of FARC rebel holdout group

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia’s government on Tuesday said it will end a cease-fire with the largest faction of the FARC-EMC, a holdout rebel group that refused to sign a 2016 peace deal but which had been involved in peace talks with President Gustavo Petro's administration until March.

In a press conference, Defense Minister Iván Velásquez said the FARC-EMC has split into two factions. He said a c ease-fire with the group’s smallest faction will be extended for three months while peace talks with the government continue.

The FARC-EMC was founded by fighters who refused to join a peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that led to the disarmament of more than 13,000 rebels and their integration into civilian life.

Colombia’s military estimates the hold out group has more than 4,400 fighters who operate in southwestern Colombia, in the Amazon piedmont, and in the Catatumbo region along Colombia’s border with Venezuela.

The group’s two factions are led by commanders Iván Mordisco and Marcos Calaca. The Mordisco faction has been engaged in clashes with Colombia’s military since March, when the government suspended a regional cease-fire after fighters loyal to Mordisco attacked an Indigenous community.

Colombia’s government said it will now launch military offensives against Mordisco’s fighters in other parts of the country as well.

The faction led by Marcos Calarca continues to hold talks with the government, and will benefit from a three-month cease-fire that ends on October 15. Colombia’s military said this faction includes approximately 40% of the EMCs fighters.

Velasquez said the Calarca faction must cease attacks on community leaders and on former FARC fighters in order for the ceasefire to be maintained.

The administration of Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, has started peace talks with most of the nation’s remaining rebel groups under a policy known as total peace.

But while some crimes have decreased, such as the murders of human rights leaders, others security indicators have worsened as these groups fight over drug trafficking routes, illegal mines and territory.

According to a report published Monday by the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, a think tank that monitors violence in Colombia, kidnappings rose by almost 50% last year, while the number of illegal roadblocks and gun fights also increased significantly in the first semester of this year.

The group said FARC EMC fighters were present in 157 municipalities in Colombia a year ago, but are now operating in 209 of the nation’s 1,100 municipalities.