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More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend after the government failed to hold peace talks with them National Liberation Armysaid a Colombian official.
William Villamizar, governor of northern Santander, where many of the killings took place, said 20 others were injured in the violence that forced thousands to flee as the Colombian army tried to evacuate people on Sunday.
Among the victims are community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who wanted to sign a peace agreement, according to a report released by a state ombudsman late Saturday.
Officials said the attacks occurred in several towns in the Catatumbo region near the border with VenezuelaAt least three people who had taken part in the peace talks were kidnapped.
People displaced by violence in towns in the Catatumbo region, where National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have clashed with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, line up for protection at a stadium in Cúcuta, Colombia register. Sunday, January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Thousands of people are fleeing the area, some hiding in the nearby lush mountains or seeking help in government shelters.
“We were caught in the crossfire,” said Juan Gutiérrez, who fled with his family to an emergency shelter in Tibú after they had to leave their animals and belongings behind. “We didn’t have time to pack 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 dog, whose owner held a pack of cold water to the animal’s chest to keep it cool as it was evacuated by helicopter.
Defense Minister Iván Velásquez traveled to the northeastern city of Cúcuta on Sunday, where he held several security meetings and called on armed groups to demobilize.
“The priority is to save lives and keep communities safe,” he said. “We have deployed our troops throughout the region.”
Officials also prepared to send 10 tons of food and hygiene supplies to about 5,000 people in the municipalities of Ocaña and Tibú, most of whom had fled the violence.
“Catatumbo needs help,” Villamizar said in a public address on Saturday. “Boys, girls, teenagers, teenagers, whole families come with nothing, ride on trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever they can, on foot to avoid becoming victims of this confrontation.”
The attack came after Colombia suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Friday for the second time in less than a year.
The Colombian government has demanded that the ELN stop all attacks and allow authorities to enter the region and provide humanitarian aid.
“The displacement is killing us here in the region,” said José Trinidad, a municipal official in the town of Convención in the North Santander region. “We are afraid that the crisis will get worse.”
Trinidad called on the insurgent groups to come together and negotiate a new agreement so that “we civilians do not have to suffer the consequences that we are now suffering.”
The ELN clashed in Catatumbo with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a guerrilla group that disbanded after signing a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016. The two are fighting over control of a strategic border region with coca leaf plantations.
In a statement on Saturday, the ELN said it had warned former FARC members that if they “continue to attack the population” there would be no way out other than armed confrontation. The ELN has accused former FARC rebels of several killings in the area, including the killing of a couple and their nine-month-old baby on January 15.
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Army commander General Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaría said on Saturday that authorities were strengthening a humanitarian corridor between Tibú and Cúcuta to allow safe passage for people forced to flee their homes. He said special urban troops had also been deployed in city capitals “where there are risks and a lot of fear.”
The ELN has tried five times to negotiate a peace deal with President Gustavo Petro’s government, with talks collapsing after violent outbreaks. The ELN’s demands include recognition as a political rebel organization, which critics say is risky.
