BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president issued a decree Friday giving him emergency powers to restore order in a coca-growing region bordering Venezuela that has been wracked in recent days by a deadly turf war among dissident rebel groups.
President Gustavo Petro’s decree, which can be extended, gives him 90 days to impose curfews, restrict traffic and take other steps that would normally violate Colombians’ civil rights or require congressional approval.
It is the first time in more than a decade that a Colombian president has used such an extreme measure and underscores the seriousness of the current conflict in a country that for decades was paralyzed by political violence.
However,
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