At least 80 people killed in northeast Colombia after peace talks collapse, official says
More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend after the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with National Liberation Armya Colombian official said.
Twenty others were injured in the violence that sent thousands fleeing as the Colombian army tried to evacuate people on Sunday, said William Villamizar, the governor of northern Santander, where many of the killings took place.
Among the victims were community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who were demanding the signing of a peace accord, according to a report released Saturday night by the government’s ombudsman agency.
Officials said the attacks took place in several towns located in the Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuelawhere at least three people who participated in the peace negotiations were kidnapped.
People displaced by violence in towns across the Catatumbo region, where National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels have clashed with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, line up to apply for shelter at a stadium in Cúcuta, Colombia, Sunday, 19 January 2025 (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Thousands of people are fleeing the area, with some hiding in nearby lush mountains or seeking help in government shelters.
“We were caught in the crossfire,” said Juan Gutiérrez, who fled with his family to a temporary shelter in Tibú after they were forced to leave their animals and belongings behind. “We didn’t have time to grab our things… I hope the government remembers us… We are helpless here.”
The Colombian military rescued dozens of people on Sunday, including a family and their pet dog, whose owner held a bag of cold water to the animal’s chest to cool it down as they evacuated by helicopter.
Defense Minister Iván Velásquez he 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 guarantee the safety of communities,” he said. “We have deployed our troops throughout the region.”
Officials have also prepared to send 10 tons of food and hygiene packages to approximately 5,000 people in the communities of Ocaña and Tibú, most of whom have fled the violence.
“Catatumbo needs help,” Villamizar said in a public address on Saturday. “Boys, girls, young people, teenagers, whole families show up with nothing, driving trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever they can, on foot, to avoid being victims of this conflict.”
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 demanded that the ELN cease all attacks and allow the authorities to enter the region and provide humanitarian aid.
“Displacement is killing us here in the region,” said José Trinidad, municipal official for the city of Convención, located in the Northern Santander region. – We fear that the crisis will worsen.
Trinidad called on the rebel groups to sit down and negotiate a new agreement so that “we civilians don’t have to suffer the consequences that we are suffering now”.
In Catatumbo, the ELN is clashing with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a guerrilla group that disbanded after signing a 2016 peace deal with the Colombian government. The two are fighting over control of a strategic border area that has 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 is no other way out than armed conflict.” The ELN has accused former FARC rebels of several killings in the area, including the killing of a couple and their 9-month-old baby on January 15.
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Army chief General Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaría said on Saturday that authorities were strengthening the humanitarian corridor between Tibú and Cúcuta for the safe passage of those forced to flee their homes. He said special urban units were also deployed in municipal capitals “where there are risks and a lot of fear”.
The ELN tried five times to negotiate a peace agreement with the administration of President Gustavo Petar, and the talks collapsed after an attack of violence. The ELN’s demands include being recognized as a political rebel organization, which critics have said is risky.
