Colombia's president has issued a decree giving him emergency powers to restore order in a coca-growing region bordering Venezuela that has been racked in recent days by a deadly turf war among dissident rebel groups.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has declared emergency powers to restore order in the coca-growing Catatumbo region amid escalating violence.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president issued a decree Friday 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.

During his historic visit to Haiti on Jan. 22, Gustavo Petro apologized to the Haitian people for the participation of the Colombian mercenaries in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

His foreign minister just abruptly resigned. A deadly wave of violence between fighting guerrilla groups is endangering his nation’s hard-won peace accord, and 17 of his countrymen, former soldiers accused in the July 2021 assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse,

Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrived in Haiti's southeastern city of Jacmel on Wednesday afternoon in a rare visit by a foreign head of state to the Caribbean nation, as Haiti endures an extended conflict with armed gangs.