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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
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