The governor of Arauca state, Renson Jesús Martinez, was attacked on Monday morning. His truck was attacked with several bullets on the highway between Fortul and Tam, an area close to the border with Venezuela and witnessing a strong presence of National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels and splinter groups from the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Both the section commander and his security planner emerged unharmed.
“The truck responded very well, thank God,” Martinez said after arriving at the Tami police station and recounting the events in a phone conversation that was broadcast in a video posted on social networks. However, the politician – who was elected in 2023 after defeating both the Uripsta opposition and the ruling Historic Charter Party – confirmed that the armed men were about to violate the car’s protection: “I think another bullet will kill the driver.”
Interior Minister Armando Benedetti condemned the attack. “It is an attack on institutions, on democracy and on all citizens who expect governance and security,” he wrote in the National Union of Administrations, for his part, calling on the national government to “proceed quickly” with the relevant investigations and strengthen the security of local authorities.
The attack occurred a few hours after five soldiers were kidnapped on the road between Tamé and the provincial capital. “Armed men allegedly intercepted the soldiers while they were traveling in civilian clothes in a public service vehicle,” a statement issued by the army’s 8th Division on Sunday said. The province of Arauca issued a statement on Monday morning condemning the kidnappings and called on those responsible to urgently “activate” humanitarian channels to release the soldiers. Only a few minutes later, he posted another message on the X website confirming the attack on the governor.
At the end of October, the Ombudsman’s Office warned of aggravation of confrontations between the ELN and the new Central General Staff, a breakaway from the now-defunct FARC, in seven municipalities in Arauca and in Cobara in Boyaca department. According to Early Warning No. 014 of 2025, “they seek to consolidate their dominance” in the region and are contesting economies linked to drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking, and fuel smuggling. Also, according to the human rights organization, the two structures suffer from strong internal divisions that “would have been an impetus for the execution of some leaders and the killing of members of their militias and bases.”
The attack and kidnapping of soldiers also has another disturbing context in the neighboring province of Boyaca. On Saturday, the authorities dismantled a truck bomb attack on the Tonga military base. Although there were no deaths or injuries, the controlled detonation of the devices caused panic in the city, which has a population of about 200,000 people, and caused some damage.
About The Author
