The number of displaced by guerrilla violence in the region colombian of Catatumboin the department of Norte de Santander (northeast), This Tuesday it rose to 32,000 after six days of clashes between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and a dissident from the former FARC. This was stated by the ombudsman, Iris Marín, who said that 15,000 people were forced to seek refuge in Cúcuta, capital of Norte de Santander; 11,000 arrived in Ocaña, the second city in that department, and 5,300 in Tibú, a town located in Catatumbo.
Since last Thursday, the day when The ELN began attacks against the 33rd Front of the dissidents of the FARCabout 80 people have been killed in Catatumbo, according to figures from the Norte de Santander Government, including at least six signatories of the 2016 peace agreement. However, Marín specified that the Institute of Legal Medicine has received only 35 lifeless bodies, of which two They have not yet been identified. “Confinement is maintained in several areas and the operation of the Public Force and the United Nations continues to extract people at extreme risk,” added the defender, who confirmed the murder of the peace signatories, “the forced disappearance of several of them and the kidnapping of another group.
The humanitarian and security crisis in Catatumbo was something announced by various authorities, including the Ombudsman’s Office, which on November 15 warned, through its early warning system, of “the “risk situation” for the civilian population due to the presence and threats of illegal armed groups. “In principle, the region is going through a violent escalation by the National Liberation Army (ELN) through its Northeastern War Front, once the bilateral and temporary ceasefire mechanism” agreed upon during the peace negotiations ceased to operate. with the Government, indicates the early warning issued by the Ombudsman’s Office in November.
Release of the former mayor
The ombudsman also confirmed that this Tuesday Antonio Marín, former mayor of the municipality of San Cayetano who was in the hands of the ELN and had been kidnapped, was released last December. That guerrilla, however, claimed this week that it had “rescued” Marín because he was in the hands of the 33rd Front of the FARC dissidents and announced that it was going to hand him over to a humanitarian mission, as happened this Tuesday.
On the other hand, the defender assured that That organization led two other humanitarian missions in which he received “eleven people, among whom was a minor”, and “20 people who had been kidnapped since January 16, of them 19 were men and the other a woman.”
In recent days, the Army has focused on the distribution of humanitarian aid and the rescue of some social leaders persecuted by the ELN, while President Gustavo Petro suspended peace talks with that guerrilla and announced yesterday the declaration of a state of commotion. interior and the economic emergency, measures of scope and effectiveness questioned.
