The border with Venezuela, the southern Amazon and an area of northern Colombia are under attack from organizations vying for control of territory and drug trafficking routes in the country, the world’s leading producer of cocaine.
Since Thursday, a bloody attack by the guerrillas of the ELN (National Liberation Army, Guevarist) against rival dissidents of the defunct guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the civilian population in the Catatumbo region (north- east), on the border with Venezuela, left at least 80 dead and some 20,000 displaced, according to the army. With more than 50,000 hectares of coca crops, fuel for the long armed conflict, Catatumbo, in the department of Norte de Santander, is a symbol of the internal war which has claimed more than 9.5 million victims in six decades.
Violence between guerrillas
In the south of the country, clashes between opposing factions of the FARC dissidents – who refused the 2016 peace agreement and took up arms again – which left at least 20 dead on Monday in the Amazonian department of Guaviare. “There are 20 dead and the bodies were taken to the morgue in Villavicencio,” a nearby town, a Defense Ministry official told AFP.
Fighting broke out between men from “Calarca”, leader of a FARC dissident group which is negotiating peace with the Colombian government, and those from “Ivan Mordisco”, who refuses to negotiate.
And in the north of the country, in the department of Bolivar, clashes between the ELN and the Clan del Golfo drug trafficking cartel also left nine people dead, according to the authorities.
Thousands of people in shelters
So far no combat has opposed the Colombian army to the various rebel groups. Some 5,000 soldiers have been deployed in Catatumbo but authorities say they are focusing on helping threatened populations and more than 230 people have been evacuated by helicopter, including children. But a “second phase” was announced, to commit soldiers to critical areas to repel the insurgents.
Since Thursday in Catatumbo, hundreds of people have fled to Venezuela and Caracas has activated a “special operation” to take care of displaced people in two neighboring municipalities.
-On the Colombian side of the border, several towns and villages like Tibu are hosting thousands of people in improvised shelters, guarded by soldiers.
“We helped with security and logistics and more than 19,800 people were welcomed into shelters,” General Erik Rodriguez told reporters.
Negotiations suspended
This violence undermines the policy pursued by the government of Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing Colombian president and ex-guerrilla who pledged upon coming to power in 2022 to emerge from the armed conflict through dialogue and has since negotiated with several organizations. armies of the country. He has not reached concrete agreements with the guerrillas, drug traffickers, or far-right paramilitary groups.
Read more: “We don’t want any more war”: in Colombia, an inauguration as a promise
Gustavo Petro decided on Friday to suspend negotiations with the ELN, which he accused of perpetrating “war crimes”. On Monday, he judged, on the social network war,” he said.
