At least 80 people have died and more than 11,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials said, amid intense fighting between two armed groups on the border with Venezuela.
The violence, in the northeastern region of Catatumbo, is one of the worst the country has faced in recent years, raising concerns that the country is moving in the opposite direction to “total peace” – a goal prioritized by the country’s leftists. the president, Gustavo Petro, has more than half of his four-year term left.
The Colombian leader visited the region on Friday, writing in X that his government “stands with the people of Catatumbo.” He also sent troops and humanitarian aid.
Displaced families take shelter in a stadium in Cúcuta, a border town known in recent years for welcoming Venezuelan migrants. Elsewhere, Colombians are fleeing to Venezuela – home to their humanitarian crisis – and Venezuela’s independent leader, Nicolás Maduro, has promised to send them aid.
The clashes in Catatumbo are an abandonment of the hope that swept parts of Colombia less than a decade ago, when the country signed a peace deal with the main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The nation had suffered decades of internal conflict, with left-wing terrorist groups, including the FARC; military organizations, and the government that strives to control the country and profitable industries such as drug trafficking.
Thousands of FARC fighters laid down their weapons in a 2016 accord, and at the time it felt like an earthquake moment in one of the world’s most violent countries. But old rebel groups, including the National Liberation Army, or ELN, persisted, while new ones emerged, all vying for control of territory and industries left by the FARC.
In some cases, these new groups include former FARC fighters, and they have splintered and splintered, helping to fuel a more severe conflict.
Catatumbo is home to large plantations of coca, the plant that is the primary product of cocaine. Two groups control the area, the ELN and the former FARC group called the 33rd Front, said General Luis Emilio Cardozo, head of the Colombian army, speaking to reporters over the weekend.
There was peace between the two groups last week. General Cardozo said that there have been four or five conflicts between the groups in recent days, and in some cases the military has been going from house to house, targeting former FARC soldiers who they suspect of being part of the 33rd Front.
“It was a very well organized criminal campaign,” he said, “they went with a list in hand looking for people they wanted to kill.”
In response to this violence, Mr. Petro has set up ongoing peace talks with the ELN.
With the military distracted, a separate conflict has erupted in recent days between two FARC factions in Guaviare, a south-central Colombian department, according to the country’s ombudsman’s office.
Organizations including the International Crisis Group have warned for years that the security situation has worsened since 2016, and violence could erupt at any time.
“We’re very concerned that the time is now,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia-based analyst for the nonprofit. “The expansion along various lines has taken the conflict to a very dangerous place.”
Ms. Dickinson called the level of conflict in Guaviare “very significant,” and said it had the potential to spread to several departments in southern Colombia. He added that there are “many children” in the ranks of armed groups in that region.
The clashes in Catatumbo, in the north, on the border with Venezuela, come amid growing tensions between Mr Petro and Mr Maduro, who has offered safe haven to ELN members.
Both Mr. Petro and Mr. Maduro is a self-proclaimed fanatic, and just two years ago, the two were shaking hands in Caracas and promising a more productive relationship.
But Mr. Petro has become very critical of the dictator in recent weeks, admonishing him for imprisoning his political opponents and refusing to release the results of the recent presidential vote Mr. Maduro claimed to have won, but many countries agree that he actually lost. senior team leader.
This has caused anger in Mr. Maduro, who has accused Mr Petro and other leaders of meddling in Venezuela’s internal affairs.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said last year it was tracking eight separate conflicts within Colombia.
On Sunday night, the country’s Ombudsman, Iris Marin, said that 11,000 people were left homeless in Catutumbo in just four days, including many children. William Villamizar, governor of North Santander, a border department, said the death toll has risen to more than 80 people.
Mrs. Marin said the violence was “one of the biggest and worst human problems that Catatumbo has faced, if not the worst.”
He blamed the conflict on “a few people” in the region and asked them to end it. “Those few people have the power to stop suffering.”
Federico Rios contributed reporting.
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