More than 80 people were killed in the northeast of the country over the weekend after government attempts to hold peace talks with the rebels failed. National Liberation ArmyA Colombian official said.
Twenty others were injured in the violence that forced thousands to flee as the Colombian army scrambled to evacuate people on Sunday, according to William Villamizar, the governor of northern Santander, where many of the killings occurred.
The victims included community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who sought to sign a peace deal, according to a report published by a government ombudsman agency late Saturday.
Officials said the attacks occurred in several towns located in the Catatumbo region near the border With VenezuelaWith at least three people who were part of the peace talks kidnapped.
People displaced by violence in towns across the Catatumbo region, where National Liberation Army, or ELN, rebels have clashed with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, line up to register for shelter at a stadium in Cúcuta, Colombia. Sunday, January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Thousands of people are fleeing the area, some hiding in the nearby green mountains or seeking help in government shelters.
“We were caught in the crossfire,” said Juan Gutierrez, who fled with his family to a temporary shelter in Tebo after being forced to abandon their animals and possessions. “We did not have time to take our things. I hope the government remembers us. We are helpless here.”
The Colombian army rescued dozens of people on Sunday, including a family and their pet dog, whose owner placed a bag of cold water on the animal's chest to keep it cool as they were evacuated by helicopter.
Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez He traveled to the northeastern city of Cucuta on Sunday, where he held several security meetings and urged armed groups to demobilize.
He added, “The priority is to save lives and ensure the security of communities.” We have deployed our forces throughout the region.”
Officials also prepared to send 10 tons of food and hygiene kits to about 5,000 people in the Okanya and Tipo communities, most of whom had fled violence.
“Catatumbo needs help,” Villamizar said in a public speech on Saturday. “Boys and girls, young men, teenagers and entire families come with nothing, riding trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever they can, on foot, to avoid becoming victims of this confrontation.”
The attack comes after Colombia suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Friday, the second time it has done so in less than a year.
The Colombian government called on the National Liberation Army to stop all its attacks and allow the authorities to enter the region and provide humanitarian aid.
“Displacement is killing us here in the region,” said Jose Trinidad, a municipal official in the town of Convencion, located in the northern Santander region. “We fear that the crisis will worsen.”
Trinidad called on the rebel groups to sit down and reach a new agreement “so that we civilians do not suffer the consequences that we are suffering now.”
The ELN in Catatumbo is clashing with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a rebel group that was disbanded after signing a peace deal in 2016 with the Colombian government. The two are fighting for control of a strategic border area containing coca leaf plantations.
The ELN said in a statement on Saturday that it had warned former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that if they “continue to attack the population… there will be no other way out but armed confrontation.” The ELN accused former FARC rebels of committing several killings in the region, including the killing of a couple and their 9-month-old child on January 15.
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Army Commander General Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaria said on Saturday that authorities were working to strengthen the humanitarian corridor between Tipu and Cúcuta for the safe passage of those forced to flee their homes. He added that special urban forces have also been deployed in municipal capitals “where there are risks and a lot of fear.”
The National Liberation Army attempted to negotiate a peace agreement with the administration of President Gustavo Petro five times, but the talks failed after bouts of violence. The ELN's demands include recognition as a rebel political organisation, which its critics say is risky.
