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.

Both the ELN and FARC-EMC have long fought for control over this drug-rich area, but recent violence marks a significant escalation.

Inhabitants of the Colombian town of Tibu, on the northern border with Venezuela, have fled following a wave of violence that has left at least 80 people dead in clashes between two armed groups in the last week.

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.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Thursday that he has been in contact with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to implement an action plan to prevent armed groups from crossing the border, following a week of violent clashes that authorities estimate have left between 60 and 80 dead.

More than 8,000 civilians fled the violence, with many seeking shelter in government facilities or hiding in the mountains.

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

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.

Twenty others were injured in the violence that has forced thousands to flee as Colombia’s army scrambled ... Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela, with at least three people who ...

The unusually deadly violence delivers a devastating blow to the “total peace” program of the country’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro.

Qatar Airways becomes the second Middle Eastern carrier to serve Colombia, following Emirates’ one-stop daily service to Bogotá via Miami, launched in June 2024. The airline will also be the first from the Middle East to serve Venezuela.