BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro suspended peace talks with the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) on Friday after accusing the group of committing war crimes in the Catatumbo region of Norte de Santander province (BME:).
“The dialogue process with this group has been suspended, the ELN has no will for peace,” Petro said on X.
More than 30 people were killed and more than 20 injured in Thursday’s attacks, Norte de Santander Governor William Villamizar said.
At least five of those killed were demobilized former FARC rebels who were part of a 2016 peace deal, the government said. It is added that many of the victims are family members of demobilized former FARC fighters and dissidents.
Members of Estado Mayor Central (EMC (NYSE: )), a dissident FARC faction engaged in separate peace talks with the government, were also attacked, the government said.
The violence, which has been condemned by the United Nations, has also displaced an unspecified number of civilians, the Catholic Church and the government’s human rights ombudsman said.
Authorities in Norte de Santander are waiting to discuss the situation with Petra, Villamizar said. The government said in a statement that it would deploy an additional 300 troops to Catatumbo to end the violence, which it blamed on ELN and FARC dissidents.
Dissidents are retreating in the region to avoid conflict with the ELN, said both the EMC and the government’s negotiator in peace talks with former FARC rebels, Camilo Gonzalez.
Peace talks between the ELN and the government, which were restarted in 2022, were marred by failures. In September, the government suspended negotiations a day after an ELN attack killed two soldiers and wounded 29 near the Venezuelan border.
Talks also stalled when the government opened separate negotiations with an ELN splinter group in the southwest, while the ELN continued kidnappings, oil pipeline bombings and attacks on security forces.
Colombia’s majority state-owned energy company Ecopetrol said it would limit work and movement at its Catatumbo operations, including the Tibu field and the Sardinata gas plant.
