Colombia: Congressional Peace Commission will travel to the Catatumbo region

Published at: 04/02/2025 10:43 AM

This Tuesday, the Peace Commission of the Colombian Congress will travel to the Catatumbo region to check the situation faced by the population displaced by the conflict between armed groups in that northeastern territory.

Senator Iván Cepeda stated that the delegation will go to the municipality of El Tarra to corroborate the suffering of which the citizens of that area are victims, due to the fighting that has been waged since last January 16 by the armed groups National Liberation Army (ELN) and the 33rd Front.

“We are very shocked by what is happening in Catatumbo. All the information we have on the ground (...) indicates that there has been a ruthless action against the civilian population,” said the senator.

Cepeda, also a member of the Government Delegation in the peace talks with the ELN, also questioned the actions of that insurgent structure.

“We are very struck by the fact that in the face of these events, all we hear from the ELN are justifications. So at this point I want to say that under these circumstances the ELN is showing signs that it is not at all interested in continuing in a peace process,” he stressed

In this regard, he stressed that if the structure wishes to advance in any kind of understanding, more than gestures are needed, and at this point he asked for “a very clear attitude so that Colombian society can believe that the ELN has some kind of will for peace.”

Negotiations with that armed group were suspended by President Gustavo Petro on January 17, for the second time in four months, due to the confrontations that this guerrilla group engaged in against the 33rd Front.

Mazo News Team