The collapse of a longstanding truce in January between factions of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia dissident group and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional prompted a surge in violence in Catatumbo Region. The fighting has exposed certain shortcomings in President Gustavo Petro’s approach to conflict resolution and will likely prompt…
Despite high hopes for Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s Total Peace plan, it has so far failed to reduce fighting between armed groups or limit their territorial expansion. With around a year left in office, Petro seems unlikely to secure a lasting military or financial victory over the country’s insurgent groups, writes Shannon Lorimer.
As sporting organisations extend their global reach and accumulate greater wealth, they face increased susceptibility to various threats, including criminal activities and targeted attacks that jeopardise the safety of athletes, coaches, and spectators. Additionally, a perceived lack of social awareness and responsibility within teams and organisations…
While a ceasefire agreement with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) militant group signals a positive development in President Gustavo Petro’s peace plan, the six-month truce – and negotiations for the group’s eventual dismantlement – faces significant odds, writes Erin Drake.
Tash Glazer considers whether newly elected Colombian President Gustavo Petro will be able to deliver on major reforms proposed during his campaign, and what could await him if he fails.
The killing of environmental defenders in developing countries is not only a growing human rights crisis but also bad for business, writes Saif Islam.
The Colombian government’s inability to implement tax reforms with the hope of boosting economic growth and investor confidence, coupled with protests and widespread supply-chain disruptions, will likely sustain political and economic instability ahead of elections in 2022, writes Erin Drake.
As protest action persists, the deterioration of public order has buttressed gangs and allowed opportunistic criminal activity to thrive, writes Erin Drake.
Following the recent kidnapping of two foreign nationals in a militant-controlled area of Colombia, Erin Drake considers whether such cases remain isolated, or if the pandemic, coupled with ongoing insecurity, will create the opportunities for renewed kidnapping activity in 2021.
Criminal groups have experienced reduced revenue in the Covid-19 lockdown period. As criminals look to bolster their diminishing income in the coming months, they will likely aim to intensify and diversify extortion and kidnap activities, writes Erin Drake.
While a recent call to remobilise has raised concerns of renewed FARC attacks in Colombia, a return to widescale kidnap for ransom as a source of funding is uncertain. Factionalism within FARC creates ambiguity about the group’s leadership and, as a result, its overall objectives and preferred tactics, writes Lenoy Barkai.
The mutually-beneficial relationship between terrorist organisations and the criminal underworld is well documented. For several decades, these outlawed groups have crossed paths across the globe. Now, with the fall of the Islamic State – once the richest terrorist organisation in the world – S-RM’s analysis team delve into the latest dynamics of the…