Colombia peace talks

The conflict has killed an estimated 220,000 people and forced nearly 7 million Colombians from their homes over the decades. Thousands of Colombians have sought refuge in Costa Rica.

FARC leaders negotiating in Havana have vowed to enter politics if a peace deal is signed. But as many as 20 percent of their subordinates could join criminal gangs and continue lucrative cocaine and illegal gold mining operations, according to the Washington Office on Latin America.

Colombia said Thursday it has freed 16 FARC guerrillas pardoned in peace negotiations with the leftist rebels, as the two sides move toward a deal to end their half-century conflict.

As the Colombian government and FARC rebels close in on a landmark peace deal, anti-personnel mines are one of the biggest problems facing the South American country in its post-conflict transition.

Colombia's government and FARC guerrillas signed an agreement Tuesday on paying reparations and providing justice for victims of their half-century conflict, a key breakthrough after three years of peace talks.

Not showing up for a Colombian military exam automatically gives one a remiso status – a deserter. With a FARC peace deal imminent, that could change.

Photos taken 30 years ago by two Dutch journalists turned out to be clues in finding the remains of three of the 11 missing persons who disappeared during the infamous Justice Palace siege in Bogotá.

The remains of three women who vanished in fighting when leftist rebels briefly captured the Colombia Justice Palace in 1985 have been identified, the Attorney General's office said Tuesday.

After three years of discussions in Havana, negotiators for the Colombian government and the rebels have arrived at a place tantalizingly close to peace. But in the southwestern cordilleras of Cauca province, where thousands have been killed or driven from their homes, the distance to peace seems far greater.

HAVANA, Cuba – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the FARC rebel group announced a major breakthrough Wednesday in their peace negotiations, bringing the country to the verge of ending one of the world's longest-running wars.