FARC

A dissident former leader of the FARC guerrillas was shot dead in Venezuela by other rebels, Colombian media reported on Dec. 5.

Citing Colombian and Venezuelan intelligence sources, several newspapers said Hernan Dario Velasquez, nicknamed "El Paisa" ("The Peasant"), had been ambushed in the state of Apure, on the border with Colombia.

Turkey reiterated its support on Sept. 1 for the peace process in Colombia following the recent rearmament announcement by the former top commander of the FARC.       

Colombian former rebel movement FARC said 24 of its ex-combatants had been killed since the beginning of the year, sounding a warning over continued violence threatening Colombia's fragile peace agreement.

Cuba will host peace talks between the Colombian government and leftist ELN rebels aimed at ending a five-decade conflict after Ecuador bowed out as host, negotiators said May 5.

Colombia on April 9 arrested a soon-to-be congressman from the Marxist FARC party on charges of drug trafficking, the government said, sparking outrage from the former rebel group that demobilized last year.

Right-wing parties opposed to a peace deal with the FARC won historic elections in Colombia on March 11 but fell short of a majority in polls that saw the former rebels enter the Congress.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia - The government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the Army of National Liberation (ELN), the largest rebel faction in Colombia following the peace agreement reached with the FARC, have reached an unprecedented 102-day bilateral ceasefire as Pope Francis arrived in Colombia.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia - The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are changing into, well, the FARC; the rebels are completing their transition from an armed insurgent group to a political party known as the Alternative Revolutionary Force of the Community.

Colombia's government and ELN rebels have agreed to a ceasefire after months of talks, the rebels announced on Sept. 4. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos also confirmed the announcement and said that the government has agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the ELN that will last 102 days.

Colombia's FARC former guerrilla group has re-launched itself as the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force, sealing its transformation into a leftist political party following its disarmament after a half-century civil conflict.