In the Catatumbo region, in the Norte de Santander department, fears and anxieties continue due to the wave of violence experienced in this region of Colombia.
The most recent event was recorded on Sunday morning, December 28, 2025, when residents of the village of Palmera Kilómetro 16, which borders the municipality of Tibú, alerted authorities to an oil spill in the area.
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According to information from RCN Radio FMafter repair work on the perforations caused by the attack, A group of workers were intercepted by armed men who asked them to abandon their vehicles in the area.
Retired Colonel George Quintero, Norte de Santander’s security minister, told the aforementioned media outlet that personnel managed to evacuate the industrial area without serious injuries.
“After completing the work, officers were approached by armed men who forced them to abandon the vehicles in the sector. The staff managed to leave the area in the other two vehicles towards the industrial area without incident.” said the official.
Uniformed members of the Colombian Aerospace Forces then located the abandoned and burned vehicles, according to the aforementioned radio station.
Despite it, The community surrounding the sector reports a persistent smell of crude oil and fear of traveling through the area, alarmed by clashes between ELN and FARC dissidents.which causes problems to arise again and again.
In addition, they criticize that the oil spill is hindering the movement of vehicles on the main road and worsening mobility conditions.
The oil field was attacked at least seven times in 2025according to information from RCN Radio FM. Among these incidents, the theft of more than 1,327 barrels of crude oil stands out, a figure that reflects the company’s vulnerability and its cumulative impact on Ecopetrol’s viability in the region.
These incidents not only threaten security, but also affect contracts with local businesses and restrict the flow of essential goods and services to the region.
This act of violence comes in addition to other episodes resulting from clashes between illegal armed groups and public forces in northeastern Colombia.
The mayor of Tibú, Richard Claro, explained that an ambulance traveling from La Gabarra to the local hospital in his municipality was blocked by illegal organizations, claiming that this situation had aggravated the security crisis in the Catatumbo region.
“They were denied passage, which further endangers the population,” the local leader expressed in the dialogue RCN Radio FM.
Likewise, the mayor of Norte Santander warned that mobility restrictions not only hinder access to humanitarian assistance, but also increase the risk of the population being trapped in the midst of violence, reinforcing the urgent need for security guarantees and the constant presence of public forces.
Given the actions of the local administration, Claro clarified this Currently, 187 people from 64 family units in need of immediate humanitarian assistance have been identified. after clashes between the dissidents and the ELN in the early hours of December 25th.
In addition, he stated that the Office of the Mayor of Tibú, in coordination with the Unit for Comprehensive Care and Reparation of Victims and the Government of Norte de Santander, activated an emergency protocol, although the mobilization of troops was difficult due to weather conditions that prevented security overflights. “We demand security guarantees for the well-being of all citizens of Tibú“, he emphasized.
According to reports from the Norte de Santander government, between January and December 2025, more than 90,000 people were displaced or living in the crossfire between the ELN and FARC dissidents.
However, in the days after Christmas (December 25th) the flow of refugees increased: 250 people arrived in Cúcuta and 256 in Tibú after fleeing the clasheswhich has made the region a theater of large-scale violence despite the military’s incursion into this region of the country.
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