Colombia’s president has issued a decree giving him emergency powers to restore order in a coca-growing region bordering Venezuela wracked in recent days by a deadly turf war among dissident rebel groups.

The mountains of Catatumbo in eastern Colombia are so dangerous that the police and army generally don’t stray far from their barracks for fear of snipers.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's attorney general's office on Wednesday reissued arrest warrants for leaders of the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, who had been participating in peace talks, as forced displacement caused by ELN attacks rose to 32,000 people.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro looks on as he is welcomed with military honors by Leslie Voltaire, president of Haiti's Transition Council, upon his arrival for an official visit where they will have a binational council of ministers, in Jacmel, Haiti January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Marckinson Pierre

The clashes between rival guerrilla groups have left 80 dead as Colombia braces for cutbacks in U.S. foreign aid under President Trump.

More than 32,000 people have fled the northern Colombian region of Catatumbo where two rival rebel groups are engaged in a bloody battle. At least 80 people have been killed over recent days amid the surge in fighting between rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

At least 80 people are dead and more than 18,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials say, amid fierce clashes between two rival armed groups on the border with Venezuela.

Known as Los Llanos, this sprawling plains district harbors fascinating wildlife like the anaconda, giant anteater and jaguar.

Colombia called on neighboring Venezuela Thursday to help tackle guerrillas blamed for a week of bloody violence that has displaced 40,000 people in the lawless border region.

Colombia's president decrees emergency powers to restore order in coca region wracked by rebel combat.

Colombia’s government is reactivating arrest orders for the top leadership of the nation’s largest rebel group