IRISH INDEPENDENT: Cheers, Wally: Meet the Irishman teaching ex-rebels in Colombia how to brew ale →

José Hernando Mayorga stands proudly beside the metal containers he uses to brew beer. It's a far cry from the years of bloody warfare he endured as one of Colombia's Marxist FARC guerrilla fighters.

José (50) has been living on a reintegration camp for over two years now as part of the 2016 peace agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels and the Colombian government, ending a bloody five-decade armed conflict that left 260,000 dead.

Ex FARC combatants Rubén Jaramillo and José Hernando Mayorga, stand beside the containers they use to brew the La Roja beer at a reintegration camp in Icononzo, Colombia. Photo: Steven Grattan

Ex FARC combatants Rubén Jaramillo and José Hernando Mayorga, stand beside the containers they use to brew the La Roja beer at a reintegration camp in Icononzo, Colombia. Photo: Steven Grattan

REUTERS: U.N. camp offers temporary respite for beleaguered Venezuelan migrants →

Sheltered from the harsh midday sun by the tent she now calls home, Maria Moreno bursts into tears recalling how she and her six children fled their native Venezuela a month ago for the border city of Maicao in northern Colombia.

“For three days, my children went without absolutely anything,” she said, as she breastfed her seven-month-old son in a camp run by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

Maria Moreno at a UNHCR camp in Maicao, Colombia. Photo: Steven Grattan

Maria Moreno at a UNHCR camp in Maicao, Colombia. Photo: Steven Grattan

ALJAZEERA: Thousands hold 'national strike' in Colombia over budget cuts →

Thousands of Colombians filled the capital Bogota's main square on Thursday in a national strike against government plans to decrease the education budget and change pension plans, among other issues.

Protesters demonstrate at Bolivar Square during a march against the government of Colombian President Ivan Duque called by teachers'' and workers'' unions in Bogota [Daniel Munoz/AFP]

Protesters demonstrate at Bolivar Square during a march against the government of Colombian President Ivan Duque called by teachers'' and workers'' unions in Bogota [Daniel Munoz/AFP]

ALJAZEERA: Colombia's lower house rejects Duque's changes to peace tribunal →

Colombia's lower house has overwhelmingly rejected President Ivan Duque's suggested modifications to the country's transitional justice system - the latest in a series of congressional defeats for the president.

Duque asked legislators in March to review six parts of the law that regulates the Special Jurisdiction for Peace tribunal [File: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters]

Duque asked legislators in March to review six parts of the law that regulates the Special Jurisdiction for Peace tribunal [File: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters]

ALJAZEERA: Venezuelan students use risky crossings to get to Colombia school →

Cucuta, Colombia - Cielo leaves her home in Venezuela at 04:30am every day to get to school in Colombia.

For two years now, the 11-year-old student has been crossing into Colombia using the Simon Bolivar footbridge for access to education as many teachers in her homeland have migrated or refuse to work for the little money the Venezuelan government can pay them since the country's economic crisis began in 2015.

Armed groups control the unofficial border crossings, known as 'trochas' [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera]

Armed groups control the unofficial border crossings, known as 'trochas' [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera]

ALJAZEERA: Colombia border hospitals struggle with Venezuelan migrant influx →

Ana Moreno stared at her four-month-old daughter, Deivismar, in a hospital bed in the Colombian border city of Cucuta. Just two weeks ago, Deivismar was near death.

"It was my diet when I was in Venezuela, it wasn't enough," Moreno said. "That's why she was born with this problem."

Ana Morena feeds her baby girl suffering from malnutrition at Cucuta's public hospital. Photo: Steven Grattan

Ana Morena feeds her baby girl suffering from malnutrition at Cucuta's public hospital. Photo: Steven Grattan