Eleven months after the wave of violence that emptied entire sidewalks and made Catatumbo the largest source of travel in the country, the calendar marks another Christmas under fire. Despite announcements of a ceasefire between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the 33rd Dissident Front of the FARC for the end of the year, rural communities were once again caught in armed clashes that generated displacements, confinements and a new humanitarian drama in territories like Tibú, El Tarra, Convencion, Teorama and San Calixto. According to the Ombudsman’s Office, at least 250 people left their territory last week.
The crisis, reignited in December, is part of a sustained escalation of violence which, from January to November, caused the displacement of at least 87,000 people in the region, according to the organization Vivamos Humanos. In several rural areas, the violence has made access to essential services difficult, with interruptions in health care making it difficult for medical brigades to arrive and access to health centers, classes in rural schools being canceled due to the risk of combat and problems getting food to villages. Although the presence of state forces has increased in some humanitarian corridors, these measures have not been sufficient to guarantee the security of movements or end armed actions.
The Office of the Ombudsman, through its humanitarian alerts, is not limited to recent displacements. Organizations such as the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) have reported that in addition to the nearly 250 people who have left their territory in recent days, around 6,000 residents are at imminent risk of being confined or forced to relocate due to intensifying fighting.
The Catatumbo subregion, in the Norte de Santander department, is a strategic region due to its border position with Venezuela and its central role in the illicit economies that fuel armed groups. The mountainous geography and porosity of the border facilitate the transit of people and goods on both sides, turning the region into a key corridor for drug trafficking and supplies linked to cocaine production. According to the United Nations Integrated Illicit Crops Monitoring System, the region concentrates at least 42,000 hectares of coca leaf crops, one of the largest areas in the country and an indicator of the importance of this territory in cocaine production and trafficking chains.
The crisis that broke out in Catatumbo on January 16, 2025 resulted from its first days in the largest waves of violence and displacement in the country. According to humanitarian reports, around 40,000 people were displaced in the first week of the fighting alone. The scale of the emergency led the government to declare a state of internal unrest and bring order to Operation Catatumbo, with the deployment of troops to try to control the situation and evacuate civilians trapped in the fighting. The situation, although little publicized, did not completely cease throughout the year. Not even in December, when both illegal groups announced their routine unilateral shutdowns for the season.
Precisely because of the humanitarian emergency in Catatumbo at the beginning of the year, President Gustavo Petro formally suspended negotiations with this guerrilla last January, after considering that their actions in this region of the country constituted “war crimes” and that “he had no desire for peace.” However, the Executive maintained an open channel with the FARC dissident faction of the General Staff of the Blocs and Front (EMBD) led by alias Calarcá Córdoba. Although these dialogues have seen intermittent progress – such as the parties agreeing to remain seated at the table and assessments of the negotiation rounds – they have also faced obstacles, including the government’s decision not to extend the bilateral ceasefire with the same structure in April 2025, reflecting the tensions and limitations of the process.
Four months later, in May, the government attempted to consolidate a temporary location zone (ZUT) in the rural area of Tibú, designed for some 500 fighters from the 33rd Front to concentrate there as part of a process of laying down their arms and transitioning to civilian life. The decree, signed by President Gustavo Petro, sets a deadline of 45 days for the fighters to complete the unification of the area, with the possibility of extending it until December if the agreed conditions are met, which the Executive presents as progress in its policy of total peace. However, the process also revealed internal fractures within the dissidents: while the commander of the 33rd Front defended the initiative as a measure to facilitate the return of thousands of displaced people, Calarcá Córdoba rejected the decree arguing that it had not been accepted at the negotiating table. One of the most advanced tables in negotiations with the Executive is, once again, in limbo due to attacks against the civilian population.
Regarding the new outbreak of violence, the government peace delegation negotiating with the dissidents issued a statement expressing concern over armed actions in the region. “The peace process carried out with the EMBF aims to end violence and transform territories. This objective is seriously hampered when it develops under constant pressure from those who benefit from the continuity of the dynamic of violence and illegal economies.”
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