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.

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.

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

In just five days, bloodshed has been reported across three Colombian departments -- from the remote Amazon jungle in the south to the mountainous northeastern border with Venezuela, where fighting has displaced almost 20,

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

At least 39 people have been killed in violence involving leftwing guerillas near Colombia's restive border with Venezuela, authorities said Friday, prompting the government to suspend high-stakes pea

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