Colombia deplores more than 100 deaths in five days and thousands displaced due to clashes linked to guerrillas. Rival dissident groups from the defunct guerrilla movement of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are engaged in turf wars, against a backdrop of control of drug trafficking in different parts of the country, the world’s leading producer of cocaine.
The border with Venezuela, the southern Amazon and an area of northern Colombia are the scene of this violent fighting. With on one side the men of “Calarca”, leader of a FARC dissident group which is negotiating peace with the Colombian government. And, on the other, those of “Ivan Mordisco”, grouped within the ELN (National Liberation Army, Guevarist), which refuses to negotiate.
The ELN “has chosen the path of war and it will have war”
This violence undermines the policy pursued by the government of Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president and former guerrilla, who pledged upon coming to power in 2022 to emerge from the armed conflict through dialogue. He has since negotiated with several armed organizations in the country. But he decided to suspend peace negotiations with the armed group.
The ELN “has chosen the path of war and it will have war,” he said. He believes that the Guevarist group has “taken the path of Pablo Escobar”, in reference to the famous Colombian drug trafficker who died in 1993. In 2016, a historic peace agreement led to the disarmament of the FARC, but dissident groups have since reorganized with new recruits.
Since Thursday, hundreds of people have fled to Venezuela. Caracas has activated a “special operation” to care for displaced people in two neighboring municipalities. According to a Colombian official, the morgues in the Norte de Santander department are “250%” saturated.
-Our file on the Farc
The authorities say they are focusing on helping populations threatened by guerrillas in this region but have announced a “second phase” to allow them to enter critical areas to repel the insurgents.
Belgium
