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

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.

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

Colombia vowed “war” against left-wing guerrillas today, declaring a state of emergency and deploying thousands of soldiers to contain a wave of violence t

More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend following the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.

At least 80 people were killed in northeast Colombia following failed attempts at peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.

Terrified residents carrying backpacks and belongings on overladen motorcycles, boats, or crammed onto the backs of open trucks, fled the region over the weekend.

The criminal war in northeast Colombia has escalated, as intense fighting between two Colombian guerrilla groups erupted in the Catatumbo region, a key cocaine production hub and criminal hotspot along the Venezuelan border.

Over 100 people have been killed in an outbreak of guerrilla violence in Colombia, predominantly along the Venezuelan border, where thousands of people have been displaced by the worst fighting in years.

At least 80 people are dead and more than 11,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials say, amid fierce clashes between two rival armed groups on the border with Venezuela.

Asylum-seeking migrants at the San Antonio Catholic Charities MRC Centro de Bienvenida respond to Trump's mass deportation crackdown.