BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Colombian authorities’s delegation in peace talks with the Nationwide Liberation Army on Monday condemned an “armed strike” — which confines civilians to their houses and restricts industrial exercise — that the insurgent group is conducting this week in response to the U.S. navy’s naval buildup within the Caribbean.
Colombia’s delegation mentioned in a press release {that a} resolution by the Marxist guerrilla power, which has been lively because the Nineteen Sixties and is thought by Spanish acronym ELN, to hold out an “armed strike” solely impacts rural communities in Colombia.
“A protest in opposition to the actions of the U.S. authorities that’s geared in the direction of communities lacks any sense in any respect” the federal government delegation mentioned.
ELN’s “armed strikes” usually contain faculty closures in areas beneath the group’s management. Outlets and public transportation are additionally informed to shut, and civilians who defy the insurgent’s orders are threatened with demise.
The ELN mentioned that its newest “armed strike” would final till 6 a.m. native time (1100 GMT) Wednesday.
In a press release revealed Friday, the rebels justified the measure by citing the Trump’s administration’s “neocolonial plans” to “sack” Latin America’s pure sources.
The group’s announcement of its strike got here a day after the Trump administration seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, as Washington escalates stress on the federal government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who the Trump administration has accused of transport medication to the US.
The tanker had been sanctioned by U.S authorities in 2022, for its alleged position in smuggling oil on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and was carrying a minimum of 1,000,000 barrels of crude bought by Cuba.
Colombia’s human rights ombudswoman mentioned in a press release Monday that throughout the “armed strike,” the ELN rebels attacked a military base within the province of Arauca, and a police station in Norte de Santander province. The human rights defender mentioned that an ambulance driver was killed throughout the assault on the police station, as each side exchanged fireplace.
Colombia suspended peace talks with ELN in January, after the insurgent group staged a sequence of lethal assaults on villages in northeast Colombia that pressured greater than 50,000 individuals to flee their houses.
Either side nonetheless have peace delegations which have tried unsuccessfully to renew talks.
The ELN is Colombia’s second-largest insurgent group, with an estimated 6,000 fighters in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela. The group has been accused of operating unlawful gold mines and drug trafficking routes in each nations, and helps Maduro’s authoritarian authorities.
Colombia’s authorities has tried to carry peace talks with ELN and a number of other different insurgent teams over the previous three years, with President Gustavo Petro’s administration granting these teams a number of ceasefires as an incentive. Critics argue that the rebels have used the truces to recruit extra fighters and strengthen their grip over rural communities.
In 2016, Colombia made a peace cope with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, recognized by its Spanish acronym FARC, that led to the disarmament of greater than 13,000 fighters. ELN and a number of other different teams at the moment are preventing for territory deserted by FARC.
© Copyright 2025 Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
