Colombia’s president has ordered the military to mount a strong offensive against the country’s biggest rebel movement, FARC, after guerrillas killed 19 soldiers this weekend in two regions. President Juan Manuel Santos said Sunday the army will go after the rebels even though the government has been in peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since last year.
The Argentine Foreign Ministry confirmed that President Cristina Fernández will for the second consecutive year not attend the AMIA Jewish community association’s memorial to commemorate the anniversary of the terrorist attack on its headquarters, which killed 85 and injured more than 300 in 1994.
President Juan Manuel Santos wants his Uruguayan peer Jose Mujica “much closer” to the Colombian peace process which is currently taking place in Cuba and has invited him to the country, said Foreign minister Maria Angela Holguin during a visit to Montevideo.
The IMF said on Monday it had approved a new two-year 5.84 billion dollars flexible credit line for Colombia, following a request by the government of President Juan Manuel Santos. The new flexible credit line will replace a previous 6bn two-year program, which recently expired.
Israel and Colombia this week signed in Jerusalem a free trade treaty to increase trade and promote investments in the fields of technology. The treaty which was reached after fifteen years of intense negotiations now needs legislative approval which should be accomplished by early 2014 according to Israeli political sources.
President Juan Manuel Santos revealed on Friday in London that Colombia has been cooperating with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, “since a long time”. Last June first the Colombian Executive announced that the Ministry of Defence was going to sign an agreement with NATO “to begin the process of becoming closer to NATO”.
President Juan Manuel Santos announcement over the weekend that Colombia will look for a cooperation understanding with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) on their invitation, has irked the so called Latinamerican group of ‘anti-imperialist countries’, at a moment when relations between neighbouring Colombia and Venezuela have hit a new low.
Caracas is furious over a Wednesday meeting between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elías Jaua told state television the meeting “will bring a derailment of the good relations that we have” while Parliament Speaker Diosdado Cabello compared the meeting to placing a bomb on the train.
In his first visit to Colombia in more than a decade, US Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday that he is pleased security concerns can now take a back seat to trade and economic issues in talks with Washington’s long-time ally. Biden also praised President Juan Manuel Santos for helping lead Latin America toward a “middle class, democratic and secure” future.
Colombia and the Marxist-led FARC rebels have reached agreement on the critical issue of agrarian reform, the two sides said in what appeared to be a major step forward for the peace process aimed at ending their long war.