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Colombia's Santos to seek 2nd term

Agencia EFEMay 17, 2013 14:47

Bogota, May 17 (EFE).- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos gave advance notice Friday that he will seek a second term in the 2014 elections, though he added that, in compliance with the law, he will not make the formal announcement until six months prior to the vote. "I wish to tell all of you that, yes, I clearly want the policies we have been promoting to continue beyond Aug. 7, 2014," Santos said, referring to the final day of his current four-year term.

Clinton meets with Santos, Garcia Marquez on Colombia visit

Agencia EFEMay 16, 2013 17:50

Bogota, May 16 (EFE).- Visiting U.S. former President Bill Clinton met in Cartagena with Colombian head of state Juan Manuel Santos and literary icon Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and on Thursday joined Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro for a ride around that Caribbean city in an electric taxi. Petro uploaded a photo to his Twitter account Thursday that shows him driving one of the vehicles of their entourage and Clinton next to him in the passenger seat.

Talks resume as Colombia urges rebels to disarm

Agence France-PresseMay 15, 2013 12:45

Talks resumed after a brief hiatus Wednesday in Havana between Colombia and FARC guerrillas, one day after President Juan Manuel Santos said the rebels must disarm in order to reach a peace agreement. The talks, held in the Cuban capital Havana, are the first attempt in a decade to negotiate a truce between the Colombian government and Latin American's oldest insurgency. Three previous attempts failed.

Fighting in Colombia leaves five rebels, police officer dead

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 19:00

Marxist FARC rebels and police clashed in different regions of Colombia on Tuesday, in violence that left five guerrillas and a police officer dead, authorities said. The deadly unrest threatened to overshadow the resumption of peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) being held in Havana. The FARC -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- is the country's largest leftist guerrilla group, and the insurgency it has waged since 1964 is the oldest in Latin America.

Pope urges Colombia's Santos to continue peace talks

Agence France-PresseMay 13, 2013 09:15

Pope Francis on Monday expressed his support for peace negotiations with the Colombian guerrilla group FARC at a private audience in the Vatican with President Juan Manuel Santos. The two "discussed the peace process in course and the victims of the conflict and the desire for the parties involved to continue negotiations was expressed," the Vatican said in a statement. It called for "a sincere search for the common good and reconciliation". Santos was in Rome for the canonisation on Sunday of Laura Montoya, a nun and Colombia's first saint.

Colombia's agriculture minister says he's resigning

Thomson ReutersMay 12, 2013 12:45

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian Agriculture Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo, who dealt with paralyzing strikes by coffee growers and has aided negotiators seeking a peace accord with Marxist rebels, said on Friday he had submitted his resignation. The effective date of his departure is unclear. Restrapo told reporters he informed President Juan Manuel Santos more than a month ago that he planned to step down but would remain in office until a replacement was named. There has not been announcement on a successor.

Colombia rolls out flight simulator for drones

Agencia EFEMay 10, 2013 12:20

Apiay, Colombia, May 10 (EFE).- Colombian authorities presented the country's first domestically produced flight simulator for training operators of unmanned drones. The simulator is the debut project to emerge from Colombia's Corporation for High Technology in Defense and involved collaboration between military and civilian engineers, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said in an event at Apiay airbase in the central province of Meta.

Colombia's Santos opts for diplomacy in Uribe, Maduro spat

Thomson ReutersMay 7, 2013 11:38

By Helen Murphy BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Monday refused to be drawn into a war of words between his predecessor - and harshest critic - and Venezuela's new president, Nicholas Maduro. Maduro, elected last month to replace the late Hugo Chavez, said on Friday he had evidence that Alvaro Uribe, president of Colombia from 2002 until mid 2010, was conspiring with the Venezuelan opposition to kill him.

Popularity of Colombia's Santos edges up slightly

Thomson ReutersMay 7, 2013 11:36

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos' popularity recovered 3 percentage points, as people feel more upbeat about the outcome of peace talks with Marxist rebels and applaud a program to give homes to the poor, a leading pollster said on Friday. Santos' popularity had been sliding since his government began negotiating a peace deal in November with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in a bid to end a five-decade war that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Colombia, FARC say progress made in talks

Thomson ReutersMay 7, 2013 11:19

By Jeff Franks HAVANA (Reuters) - Colombia and Marxist-led FARC rebels reported important advances on Friday on the critical issue of agrarian reform in their talks to end half a century of war but the government complained the negotiations were still moving too slowly. The rebels also put a possible chill in the process by rejecting the notion of legal prosecution for their actions in the conflict, which has left thousands of people dead and millions displaced.