The armed rebel group in Colombia "Comuneros del Sur" (Comuneros del Sur), a breakaway faction of the leftist National Liberation Army (ANO), laid down its arms and signed two agreements with the country's President Gustavo Petro, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA, referring to a joint statement by the government and the movement in question from last night.
Representatives of the movement said in the central city of the Nariño department - Pasto, in southwestern Colombia (in the Andes), that they were handing over military equipment, including grenades and other types of explosives, as a sign of goodwill for peace.
"We believe that armed struggle is obsolete, that new times and new needs have arrived. "We are abandoning the path of war," said one of the group's leaders, Royer Garzon.
This move paves the way for the disarmament and integration into civilian life of about 300 of the movement's fighters, Reuters notes.
The agreements with the "Comuneros del Sur" are the most significant step towards peace since President Petro took office in 2022, who announced a plan to end civil conflicts in Colombia, the agency said.
Ecuadorian security forces launched a large-scale operation last night against criminal drug trafficking groups in conjunction with the founder of the former US private military company "Blackwater" (Blackwater) Eric Prince, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
This is happening on the eve of the second round of presidential elections in the South American country, scheduled for April 13.
The operation, in which a total of 650 police and military personnel are participating, included a series of raids on homes and rehabilitation centers for drug addicts, said Pablo Davila, police chief in the country's largest city, Guayaquil.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced last month that he had formed a “strategic alliance“ with a private security company led by "Blackwater" founder Prince. Currently, "Blackwater" is succeeded by "Constelis" (Constellis).
In the second round of the presidential election, the incumbent conservative head of state Noboa will face his leftist opponent Luisa Gonzalez.