ABColombia expresses its profound concern regarding the escalation of violence in north-eastern Colombia.
On 17 January 2025, President Petro announced the suspension of the peace talks between the government and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN) because of a surge in violence perpetrated by the armed group. On 20 January 2025, Petro declared a “state of internal commotion” and a “state of economic emergency” as a result of this violence in the Catatumbo region of Colombia on the Colombia-Venezuela border. He has also deployed thousands of soldiers to contain the wave of violence that has killed over 60 people, according to the National Human Rights Ombudsman’s preliminary report on 18 January 2025. Newspapers are reporting higher numbers of 80 and 100 people.
According to OCHA, between 16-20 January 2025, 18,300 people have been displaced, and over 1,200 confined in their territory in the Catatumbo region due to the offensive launched by the ELN. Many of those displaced have fled to Cúcuta, Ocaña and Tibu – the latter of which is receiving displaced people via land and water. The affected communities include the Bari Irocobingkayra, Yukpa, Ucha Petajpo and Manuracha Indigenous peoples, as well as migrant and refugee populations.
The ELN declared they were killing members of FARC dissidents in the Estado Mayor de los Bloques – Frente 33. However, it is widely reported that the overwhelming majority of those killed were civilians. The ELN must cease all human rights violations immediately.
According to the Human Rights Ombudsman’s office, seven of those killed were ex-FARC combatants and one was a social leader, Carmelo Guerrero of the Association for the Campesino Unity of Catatumbo (ASUNCAT). The Ombudsman’s office also warned that many social leaders and their families are at risk of being kidnapped or killed for opposing the ELN.
In addition to this, violence has also broken out in the southwest of the country, where at least 20 people have been killed as dissident factions of the EMC engage in armed confrontation for territorial control.
ABColombia highlights the need for collaboration between national and local government in consultation with local NGOs, ethnic authorities and the Ethnic Commission, to achieve a comprehensive and culturally appropriate response to this humanitarian crisis.