Rapid Fire
Colombia's Escalating Conflict
- 22 Jan 2025
- 1 min read
Colombia faces a surge in violence as rival militias clash, threatening its fragile peace process and prompting a state of emergency with military deployments.
- Violence involves guerilla groups that rejected the earlier peace accords.
- The deal terminated the conflict between the Colombian government and the Marxist–Leninist guerillas (1964-2016).
- Groups are fighting for control of a strategic border region with coca leaf plantations, the raw material for cocaine production.
- Hundreds of refugees sought safety in Tibu, a city in Colombia, where several shelters were established to house them.
- About Colombia: It is called "gateway to South America" due to its location connecting South America with Central and North America.
- Its vast grasslands are called Los Llanos and open in both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.
- About 10% of the world's animal species live in Colombia, despite it covering less than 1% of Earth's land area.
- It is the world’s largest producer of cocaine.
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