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A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 25 June 2024
Colombia launches talks with rebel group led by fighters who

returned to arms after 2016 peace deal

By MANUEL RUEDA monly known by his nom de
Associated Press guerre of Ivan Marquez.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — But the rebel leader grew
Colombia launched peace weary of the peace deal in
talks with the Second Marqu- 2018, after one of his close
etalia rebel group on Mon- comrades, Seuxis Paucias,
day as the administration of was arrested by Colombian
leftist President Gustavo Petro police on a U.S. arrest war-
tries to pacify rural areas of rant, for allegedly conspiring
the country that have seen to export 10 tons of cocaine
rising violence despite efforts to the United States.
to broker ceasefires with vari- As the investigation closed
ous armed groups. in on Marin, the rebel com-
The talks were announced mander disappeared from
in Caracas, Venezuela in a public events, retreated into
ceremony that included gov- the jungle and announced
ernment delegates and rebel the creation of his new reb-
leaders who signed a 2016 el group in an August 2019
peace deal but later took up video where he claimed he
arms again after saying they had been betrayed by the
had become disillusioned government.
with the implementation of Peace talks start between the armed Colombian group “Segunda Marquetalia - EB” and the Marin has been fighting the
the deal. Colombian government in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 24, 2024. Sitting, from left, are Colombian state since then
“We want to participate in representatives of the armed group, Francisco Toloza, Walter Mendoza and Ivan Marquez, as well with his Segunda Marquetalia
politics without resorting to as Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, Colombian Peace Commission Advisor Otty Patiño and group.
Colombian government representative Armando Novoa.
the use of weapons,” said the Associated Press But began to hold talks in pri-
Second Marquetalia’s lead vate last year with officials
negotiator Walter Mendoza. ing soft on crime. Humberto de la Calle, a a former FARC commander from the Petro administration
“The condition for that will be Negotiations with the Second senator who was the gov- who was the group’s chief at secret locations in Ven-
for the government to fulfill Marquetalia are controver- ernment’s chief negotiator negotiator in the peace talks ezuela. On Monday, Marin
its side of the accords.” sial because the group is led in the 2016 peace talks with that led to the disarmament made his first appearance in
With an estimated 2,000 fight- by members of the former the FARC, wrote on the social of more than 13,000 rebels public since his 2019 video.
ers the Second Marquetalia Revolutionary Armed Forces media platform X. fighters. The rebel leader sported his
is one of the nation’s smaller of Colombia, or FARC, who “But this sends an awful mes- The former rebels were trademark beard and deliv-
rebel outfits. signed the peace deal but sage to society: which is that spared prison sentences and ered a speech in which he
The government’s decision to took up arms again, as some cheaters and those who do given 10 seats in Colombia’s accused Colombian officials
begin peace talks with the of them faced drug traffick- not keep their word can get congress as part of the 2016 of trying to “trap” him and
group has been criticized by ing investigations. ahead.” peace deal, including a sen- other former FARC members
Colombian opposition lead- “For the sake of peace I wish The Second Marquetalia ate seat that was awarded with drug trafficking investi-
ers who accuse Petro of be- good luck to these talks,” group is led by Luciano Marin, to Marin, who is more com- gations. q

A fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea kills 22 mostly

Chinese migrant workers

By HYUNG-JIN KIM nese, two South Koreans a televised briefing. He said ately verified. would investigate whether
Associated Press and one Laotian, local fire the nationality of one of the In the past few decades, fire extinguishing systems
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) official Kim Jin-young told dead couldn’t be immedi- many people from China, were at the site and if they
— A fire likely sparked by including ethnic Koreans, worked.
exploding lithium batteries have migrated to South Rechargeable lithium-ion
swept through a manufac- Korea to seek jobs. Like batteries are ubiquitous in
turing factory near South other foreign migrants from consumer goods from lap-
Korea’s capital on Mon- Southeast Asian nations, tops to cellphones. They
day, killing 22 mostly Chi- they often end up in fac- can overheat if damaged,
nese migrant workers and tories or in physically de- defective or packaged
injuring eight, officials said. manding and low-paying improperly, leading to fires
The fire began after batter- jobs shunned by more af- and explosions and making
ies exploded while work- fluent South Koreans. them a hazard for shipment
ers were examining and Kim said that one factory aboard aircraft.
packaging them on the worker remained out of The video of the incident
second floor of the factory contact and rescuers con- showed the factory’s sec-
in Hwaseong city, just south tinued to search the site. ond floor being engulfed
of Seoul, at around 10:30 He said that two of the with blaze, about 15 sec-
a.m., fire officials said, cit- eight injured were in serious onds after a small amount
ing a witness. condition. of white smoke was seen
They said they would in- Firefighters work at the site of a burnt lithium battery manufacturing The fire started at one of the billowing from a battery,
vestigate the cause of the factory in Hwaseong, South Korea, Monday, June 24, 2024. factory buildings owned by senior fire official Jo Seon-
blaze. Associated Press a battery manufacturer, Ar- ho told a briefing later
The dead included 18 Chi- icell. He said that authorities Monday.q