BOGOTA, Colombia
P.A.
—
More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend following the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.
Twenty other people were injured in the violence that forced thousands to flee as the Colombian army rushed to evacuate people on Sunday, according to William Villamizar, governor of northern Santander, where many of the killings took place.
The victims included community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who were seeking to sign a peace deal, according to a report released Saturday by the government mediation agency.
Authorities said the attacks took place in several towns in the Catatumbo region, near the border with Venezuela, and that at least three people participating in the peace talks were kidnapped.
Thousands of people are fleeing the region, some hiding in the nearby lush mountains or seeking help at government shelters.
“We were caught in the crossfire,” said Juan Gutiérrez, who fled with his family to a temporary shelter in Tibú after being forced to abandon their animals and belongings. “We didn’t have time to collect our things. … I hope the government remembers us. …We are powerless here.
The Colombian army 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 keep it cool while they were evacuated by helicopter.
Defense Minister Iván Velásquez visited the northeastern city of Cúcuta on Sunday, where he held several security meetings and urged armed groups to demobilize.
“The priority is to save lives and keep communities safe,” he said. “We have deployed our troops throughout the region.”
Authorities also prepared to send 10 tons of food and hygiene kits to around 5,000 people in the communities of Ocaña and Tibú, the majority of whom fled the violence.
“Catatumbo needs help,” Villamizar said in a public speech Saturday. “Boys, girls, young people, adolescents, entire families arrive with nothing, aboard trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, on foot, as best they can, to avoid being victims of this confrontation. ”
The attack comes after Colombia suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Friday, the second time in less than a year.
The Colombian government demanded that the ELN cease all attacks and allow authorities to enter the region and provide humanitarian aid.
“Displacement is killing us here in the region,” said José Trinidad, municipal manager of the town of Convención, located in the northern Santander region. “We fear the crisis will worsen.”
Trinidad called on insurgent groups to sit down and reach a new deal so that “we civilians do not have to suffer the consequences we are currently experiencing.”
The ELN clashed in Catatumbo 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 men are vying for control of a strategic border region that is home to coca leaf plantations.
In a statement Saturday, the ELN said it had warned former FARC members that if they “continued to attack the population… there would be no other outcome than armed confrontation.” The ELN has accused ex-FARC rebels of several killings in the region, including the January 15 killing of a couple and their 9-month-old baby.
Army commander Gen. Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaría said Saturday that authorities were strengthening a humanitarian corridor between Tibú and Cúcuta for the safe passage of people forced to flee their homes. He said special urban troops have also been deployed to municipal capitals “where there are risks and a lot of fear.”
The ELN tried five times to negotiate a peace deal with the administration of President Gustavo Petro, but negotiations broke down after episodes of violence. The ELN notably demands that it be recognized as a rebel political organization, which critics say is risky.