Guerilla war in the Colombian borderlands
At least 80 killed and more than 20,000 displaced as ELN battles FARC dissidents in Catatumbo on the Venezuelan border
This piece includes reporting by Adriaan Alsema of Colombia Reports
More than 80 people have been killed in three days, and over 20,000 displaced in northeast Colombia as the country’s largest remaining guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) embarks on a major offensive against ex-FARC dissident group, Frente 33 in the Catatumbo region.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office, the people were killed in what appears to be an attempt by the ELN to assume full control over Catatumbo. Guerrilla fighters have killed signatories of the 2017 peace deal between the government and FARC, social leaders, activists, and individuals thought to be sympathizers of Frente 33.
A video posted by a regional journalist showed alleged ELN guerrillas searching for demobilized guerrillas in San Pablo, a village in Catatumbo.
Camilo Gonzales, the chief negotiator in peace talks with guerrilla group EMCB, said that “the grave situation in Catatumbo shows a coordinated ELN offensive in seven municipalities almost simultaneously… and attacked civilian targets.”
Frente 33, which formerly formed part of Estado Mayor Central (EMC), split from the coalition last year to form Estado Mayor de los Bloques (EMB) after EMC went to war with the Colombian government.
President Gustavo Petro said that his government suspended attempts to restart peace talks with the ELN as “the ELN has no will for peace.”
“What the ELN has committed in Catatumbo are war crimes,” the president said on Twitter.
Andrey Avendaño, the regional EMB commander, said that ELN guerrillas were also attacking his forces throughout Catatumbo.
“They imposed a war on us and we have to fight it with those who imposed it on us, not with the people who have supported us so many times ... We are going to continue fighting this war with responsibility, but above all with determination and dedication.”
Frente 33 is currently engaged with the government as part of Petro’s “Total Peace” plans, which involve direct negotiations with criminal armed groups in return for their disarmament.
Colombian military forces are carrying out missions in Catatumbo to evacuate those threatened by the growing guerilla war.
A football stadium in Cúcuta has been repurposed as a refugee camp for those displaced by the fighting. As of Sunday night, more than 2,000 people were sheltered there, setting up tents and impromptu shelters.
Thousands more had fled to other regions of Norte de Santander, or into Venezuela, to avoid the fighting.
Catatumbo is the country’s second biggest coca-producing region, the raw ingredient in cocaine, and has long existed effectively outside of the Colombian state. Its proximity to Venezuela also makes it a valuable smuggling hub.
Both ELN and ex-FARC dissident groups have long maintained territory on both sides of the border.
Colombia’s Defensoría warned of increasing tensions between the two groups in November, as part of their early warning systems. By December, Avendaño was publicly warning that if tensions led to open fighting, the results would be devastating.
“We know where each other live, our routines, we’ve lived next to one another for decades,” he said. He warned that open conflict would be a “massacre”.
The bloodbath started after Miguel Angel, his wife, Zulay Durán Pacheco, and their 9-month-old baby were killed in Tibú, Catatumbo on January 16. Military intelligence has blamed ELN for the triple homicide, saying that the group believed Angel had links to EMB.
Defense Minister Iván Velásquez, in a press conference, confirmed that the ElN is mobilizing troops from other regions to strengthen the armed group in the midst of the wave of violence in Catatumbo.
“The transfer of ElN members from Arauca to Catatumbo has been confirmed and they have participated in this bloody campaign that the ELN has unleashed in this region,” said Velásquez.
He described ELN as undertaking a 'hunt' of peace signatories and social leaders.”
Camilo González Posso, chief government negotiator for the dissidents, in an interview with Colombian newspaper El Espectador, stated that the ELN offensive is “part of a border control strategy.”
He also cited a series of other factors that might be destabilizing the region, including the election of Trump, and Maduro’s swearing-in for a third term after fraudulent elections. “The ELN feels that it cannot continue losing ground. It lost the south, in Nariño, with the division it had with Comuneros. Chocó, a large part of it has been lost in that confrontation with the Clan del Golfo. In Magdalena Medio they are also at war,” he said. “ELN has lost a lot of territory in the interior of Colombia.”
“In Catatumbo, the people who are militia members are family members; they know each other...That is why we have seen that they are searching house by house for the members of Frente 33,” he continued.
ELN released a statement Sunday evening that if EMB fighters surrender and turn in their weaponry, their lives will be spared. They have also denied responsibility for massacres of civilians since the conflict broke out, blaming instead Frente 33.
Talks with the ELN have been frozen since February of last year and have now been suspended entirely twice because of the guerrillas’ ongoing attacks on security forces and rival armed groups.
The Big Headlines in LATAM
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro submitted a petition to Brazilian courts to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration in the United States, but the request was denied.
Bolsonaro’s passport was confiscated last February as part of legal proceedings that accuse him of trying to overturn presidential elections. Police have deemed the former president a “flight risk”.
Venezuela released prominent human rights advocate Carlos Correa on Thursday, January 16. The university professor and free speech activist was among several opposition figures and civil society activists arrested ahead of Maduro’s inauguration last Friday.
Correa’s detention raised widespread condemnation in the Americas as well as from human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The Ship’s Log
Joshua has a piece set to come out in NACLA about ongoing graffiti wars inspired by the discovery of a mass grave in Medellin, Colombia. He has been running around the city photographing murals and speaking to artists.
He has also been helping Daniela translate an upcoming piece she has in the works for the New Humanitarian about the hundreds of thousands of migrants trapped in southern Mexico.
She has been reporting from Tapachula and accompanying Doctors Without Borders in their work to provide medical assistance to a community that has been preyed upon by criminals and police alike.
Hopefully both pieces are out this week!
Spanish Word of the Week
Irse por las ramas
Literal translation: To go through the branches
Have you ever had a conversation with someone who talked for 10 minutes about minutiae for ten minutes before getting to the point? Perhaps someone who wanted to tell you about a long lost friend they saw at the market, but first told you every detail of their morning and the trip downtown to get there?
Chances are they were “going through the branches”. This expression refers to avoiding the point of a story, or request, sometimes because the situation is difficult or unpleasant, but other times simply because they love to talk. It’s very similar to “beating around the bush” in English.
They never talk about their problems at school, they’re always beating around the bush — Ellos nunca hablan de sus problemas en la escuela, siempre se van por las ramas
Thanks for reading, piratas, y hasta pronto!
