Colombia Gets Back to Battling ELN Rebels

 

Guess what? Colombia's military is back in action against the ELN rebels. The six-month break from fighting is over. Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said so on a Monday, which shows a big change in how things are going in the country's never-ending battle.

This break was part of President Gustavo Petro's big plan to make peace. He started talking to the ELN again in 2022, because he wants to stop all the fighting that's been happening for over 60 years and has caused a ton of pain. More than 450,000 people have lost their lives because of it, and it's not cool.

But the talks didn't go so well, and the ELN started kidnapping people again. That's their thing for getting money. So, Velasquez said, "No more breaks, we're fighting back." This means the soldiers and cops are back to trying to control the situation.

The thing with the ELN is that they're tough to deal with. They have weird ideas, don't always get along with each other, and the US and Europe don't like them either because they're labeled as "terrorists." This makes it hard to make peace stick.

Now, everyone's watching to see if this new round of fighting messes up the peace talks and what it'll mean for Colombia's future. Will they ever get that peace they're looking for?