Ramirez was interviewed while in Turkey. She and her Turkish counterparts had the opportunity to compare notes on the counterinsurgency war in her nation and Turkey’s against Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Also see: Video: NATO chief, Colombian president unite against Russia over Ukraine, against Russia, China over Venezuela
Anadolu Agency
April 2, 2022
The peace process between Bogota and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) depends on the rebel group’s being “committed to being 100% legal,” said Colombian Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez.
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“If they are committed to being 100% legal, and if they’re 100% committed to respecting law….I am ready to accept that they don’t go to jail,” she added.
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Russia-Ukraine conflict’s effect on Colombia
Reiterating Colombia’s stance that rejects the Russian “invasion” of Ukraine, Ramirez said Russia’s war not only costs human lives but causes worldwide economic damage as inflation rates and prices, including oil, gas and different natural resources, are on the rise.
She said economies are already devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and now are challenged by Moscow’s “unfair” war on Kyiv.
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Ramirez stressed that the main concern for Colombia is the production of grain and that is why the country has to try to fill the gap with other markets, as well as increase local production.
Moscow’s Black Sea blockade delays crucial grain exports and the UN voiced concern that it may cause a deepening hunger crisis in countries such as Yemen and Ethiopia.
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She also underlined Turkiye’s leadership role in mediation and to find a solution to end the war, saying Colombia sees it as “very positive.”
Colombia-NATO relations
Asked whether Colombia is considering seeking full NATO membership after Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ramirez said it is “something that we haven’t considered yet.”
She added that Bogota finds it “okay” to keep the global partner status that it assumed five years ago.
Colombia has “very positive relations with almost all the members of NATO,” she noted and said the government recognizes that it is an “important” alliance as members support each other in trying to ensure peace in the world and sharing information about possible threats against any members of the international community or the members of the alliance.
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Colombia Reports
April 1, 2022
Colombia’s Defense Minister Diego Molano claims that victims of an alleged military massacre were guerrillas killed in a “legitimate operation.”
The defense minister made the controversial claim in response to evidence indicating that the National Army massacred at least four civilians in the southern Putumayo province on Monday.
Among the civilian victims would be a community leader, an indigenous governor and at least one 16-year-old boy, according to the United Nations human rights office.
The “military offensive”
Defense Minister Diego Molano announced on Monday that “nine criminals” had been killed in Puerto Leguizamo, a jungle municipality on the Ecuadorean border.
President Ivan Duque later raised the number of deaths, claiming that “11 members of dissident groups of the [now-defunct guerrilla group] FARC were neutralized.”
“Four more criminals were arrested in Puerto Leguizamo,” the president added.
Human rights organizations provides evidence of massacre
A regional community organization said Tuesday that they had been able to identify seven locals who were falsely presented as guerrillas.
According to the community, the military massacred locals who were attending a bazar in the hamlet of El Remanso.
Among the civilian victims were the community’s elected leader, his wife, an indigenous governor and a 16-year-old boy.
At least three locals would have been injured in the massacre and others have been missing since the fake offensive, locals said.
Regional think tank A la Orilla Del Rio confirmed the massacre and published images of the community center where the massacre took place.
To sustain their claims, human rights organizations and independent media published the accounts of multiple locals who accused the National Army of assassinating the locals.
Investigative news website Cuestion Publica additionally published the death certificates of four of the victims.
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U.S. Southern Command
March 28, 2022
Colombia’s Gen. Navarro Visits SOUTHCOM
The commander of U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Army Gen. Laura Richardson, hosted Colombian Gen. Luis Navarro, the General Commander of the Colombian Military Forces, at SOUTHCOM headquarters today.
Richardson and Navarro discussed U.S.-Colombia defense cooperation. Navarro also met with other SOUTHCOM senior leaders and was briefed on the command’s mission and cooperation with Colombia’s military.
Anti-bellum 