Colombian authorities found nine bodies in a rural area of the Caribbean department of Bolívar, a region where The guerrillas of the National Liberation Army fight for territorial control (ELN) and the Gulf Clanthe main criminal gang in the country.
This was reported by the mayor of the municipality of Montelíbano, Gabriel Calle, who assured that the bodies are in a morgue in that town in the department of Córdoba, neighboring Bolívar, after they were found in plastic bags. “These were transferred to Montelíbano because it is the only municipality close to where these events occurred – which was in the south of Bolívar – that has a morgue to identify corpses,” said the local leader.
Calle explained that the bodies are in bags and “in a state of decomposition”, which is why They will be sent to Montería, capital of Córdoba, to try to identify them. “We do not have cold rooms to refrigerate the corpses, the possibility of identifying the victims could be lost. Therefore the decision was made that these nine bodies will be transferred to the city where the technology for the identification of said victims does exist” said the mayor.
The discovery of these bodies was made at a time when the ELN is carrying out an offensive in rural areas of several municipalities in the Catatumbo region, which covers a good part of the department of Norte de Santander, against its rivals from the dissidents of the FARC. These events have left more than 30 dead and more than 20 injured in two days and led the Government to suspend peace talks with the ELN.
The governor of Bolívar, Yamil Arana, has not commented on the discovery of the nine bodies, but he did affirm that “the dialogues have only served to strengthen the ELN” and “as long as there is no real will for peace, there should be no talks. with any of these organized armed groups.
