Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group on Monday released five police officers it had kidnapped during the first week of January, as it pushes for a “national accord” to overcome political conflicts

Colombia’s president on Tuesday reduced wages for members of Congress by approximately 30%, as the South American nation faces a budget crunch and gets ready to hold elections in the first semester of this year.

President Gustavo Petro of Colombia is taking a harder line against the National Liberation Army, or ELN, a leftist group experts call a powerful drug trafficker in Colombia and Venezuela.

After threatening and insulting Colombian leader Gustavo Petro, the US president unexpectedly invited him to the White House.

Washington and Bogotá have enjoyed security cooperation for decades but ties have deteriorated since Trump began his second term last January. View on euronews

Thrilled by Maduro’s ouster, Trump pushed the fight even further in recent days. He called Petro a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States” and warned of a possible U.S. military operation on Colombian soil.

The conversation appeared to defuse a crisis that erupted after President Trump said military action against Colombia “sounds good.” President Gustavo Petro spoke to The New York Times just before the call.