🌍 Colombia’s last guerrilla group lays down arms

Hi there Intriguer. We all cop rejection at some point. Justin Bieber is banned in China; Norway won’t let Snoop Dogg back in; and Lady Gaga got herself blacklisted in Indonesia. But we were still heartbroken when a few inboxes rejected yesterday’s edition of Intrigue! If we ever go missing, be sure to check your junk folder and mark us as ‘safe’, ‘not spam’, etc. That’ll help train the email algorithm 🙏

Today’s briefing is a 4 min read:

• 🇨🇴 Colombia’s guerrillas lay down arms.

• 🇰🇷 Korea finally shakes up its banks.

• ➕ Plus: A different kind of flag, how the papers are covering the hottest day in history, and the EU starts preparing for the next pandemic.

1. 🇦🇫 Afghanistan: The Taliban has ordered local hair and beauty salons to shut. In recent months, the group has also banned women from gyms, parks, education beyond sixth grade and most jobs.

2. 🇨🇭 Switzerland: The Swiss are looking to join the European Sky Shield, an air defence scheme set up by Germany last year. But critics say the move would breach Switzerland’s neutrality policy.

3. 🇹🇭 Thailand: An elephant gifted to Sri Lanka has been returned to Thailand after Thai allegations of animal abuse led to a diplomatic spat. Thailand gifted the 4,000kg mammal to Sri Lanka in 2001.

4. 🇻🇪 Venezuela: Caracas has banned opposition figure María Corina Machado from public office, preventing her from running in next year’s elections. Machado has dismissed the injunction and is continuing her campaign.

5. 🇪🇬 Egypt: Turkey and Egypt have appointed ambassadors to their respective countries for the first time in ten years, healing a rift caused by the 2013 Egyptian coup. The move continues a wave of diplomatic reconciliations across the Middle East.

🇨🇴 Colombia | Security

Colombia’s last active guerrilla group holds fire

The National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group has announced it’ll stop fighting Colombian forces from today (Thursday), ahead of next month’s agreed ceasefire. Government forces are also halting offensives from today.

What’s the ELN?

Founded in 1964, it’s a 5,000+ member insurgent group with Marxist-Leninist roots, accused of financing its operations through drug trafficking.

And why’s this ceasefire such a big deal?

President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, took office last year on a promise to bring ‘total peace’, after decades of violence had led to:

• 🚨 450,000 lives lost and 50,000 kidnappings

• 🚶 7.5 million people displaced

• 💸 A booming drug trafficking industry, and

• 🔫 Vast swathes of the country under militia control.

If the agreed six-month truce holds, it’ll be the longest ELN ceasefire ever.

Intrigue's take: It might be a little premature to crank that cumbia just yet, but there are reasons to be optimistic:

1. The ELN’s early and unilateral pause in hostilities shows goodwill

2. The ceasefire will be implemented in three phases under international monitoring (by the UN and the Catholic Church), and

3. Both sides probably know that this moment, with a former guerrilla in the presidency, might be their best shot at real peace for a while.

So we’re gonna go ahead and crank that cumbia anyway.

Also worth noting:

• President Petro was once part of the M-19 guerrilla group, which eventually demobilised and became a political party.

• The ELN became Colombia’s main guerrilla group after an historic 2016 peace deal led to the dissolution of the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

📰 How newspapers covered…

Record-breaking average temperatures on Earth

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🇰🇷 Korea | Business

South Korea finally opens up its banking sector

Seoul has announced the biggest reforms to Korea’s banking sector in more than 30 years, in a bid to boost competition.

What’s it all involve?

• 🏦 Smaller regional banks can now apply to go nationwide

• 🖥️ More low-cost, online-only banks can open, and

• 🌏 Foreign banks in Korea will have lighter capital requirements.

Why? 

President Yoon (who took office last year) has openly criticised the sector, saying a lack of competition has enabled Korea’s five main banks to enjoy a “money feast” (anyone else love that term?) at the expense of the people.

Intrigue’s take: Like any other advanced economy, meaningful growth in South Korea will increasingly require tough reforms. And that often means taking on powerful oligopolies.

So in theory, Yoon’s reforms will leave more cash in Korean pockets, and less “money feasts” (🥰) for the bankers. But in practice, the question is how many Koreans will actually move their accounts to new, small, and unfamiliar banks.

Also worth noting:

• Shares in Korea’s big incumbent banks dropped on the news, while shares in some of Korea’s smaller regional players jumped.

➕ Extra Intrigue

Here’s what we’re reading about healthcare around the world:

• EU buys vaccine capacity to prepare for next pandemic

• Moderna agrees deal in China with view to developing mRNA medicines

• ‘Gamechanging’ TB vaccine within reach after $500m pledge to run final trials

• Pacific Migrants Are Caught in the Tangled Web of US Healthcare Politics

🗳️ Poll time!

🏁 Flag of the day

Unlike our usual flags, today’s banner doesn’t represent a sovereign territory. The former Republic of Biafra declared independence from Nigeria shortly before the Nigerian Civil War (aka Nigerian-Biafran War), which broke out on this date in 1967. The flag’s 11 golden rays represented Biafra’s 11 provinces.

Thursday’s poll: Do you think car-free zones in cities should be the norm?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🚶 Yes, they encourage public transport use and reduce air pollution (74%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🛍️ No, they discourage commercial activity and do little to help the environment (23%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🖋️ Other (write in!) (3%)

Your two cents:

• 🚶 M: “The idea that lack of cars discourages commerce is just BS. Foot traffic actually increases sales, because people do take the time to look at shop windows and discover stuff. Countless evidence demonstrates it.”

• 🛍️ D.M: “It reduces accessibility and simply redirects congestion into the outer CBD areas, further compounding the issue.”

• 🖋️ D.S: “Just make it a tax. If folks can afford it then channel the money into better public transit systems.”