Colombia violence in Catatumbo kills more than 80, displaces thousands

*Event date: 2025-01-19.*

More than 80 people have been killed in northeast Colombia after a burst of violence tied to the National Liberation Army, regional officials said, with the fighting spreading across towns in the Catatumbo region near the Venezuelan border. The clashes have also injured 20 people, left at least three people kidnapped and forced thousands to flee their homes.

The scale of the violence is severe even by the standards of Colombia's long-running armed conflict. Governor William Villamizar of North Santander said many of the killings occurred in his department, and a government ombudsman report identified among the dead a community leader, Carmelo Guerrero, as well as seven people who had sought to sign a peace deal. The attacks have also driven people into shelters and the surrounding mountains as families try to get away from the violence.

Colombia's army said it had rescued dozens of people, including a family and their dog, while officials prepared to send food and hygiene kits to about 5,000 people in Ocaña and Tibú. Defense Minister Iván Velásquez traveled to Cúcuta as the government tried to coordinate relief. Army commander Gen. Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaría said authorities were reinforcing a humanitarian corridor between Tibú and Cúcuta so civilians could move safely out of the conflict zone.

The latest violence followed the suspension of peace talks with the ELN, which Colombia halted on Friday for the second time in less than a year. The government has demanded that the group stop attacking and allow aid to reach the area. The ELN, meanwhile, has said it warned former FARC members that armed confrontation was the only option if attacks on the population continued. The two sides are fighting for control of a strategic border region with coca leaf plantations.

The conflict in Catatumbo is not new, but the pace of the killings has accelerated alarmingly. The ELN has tried to negotiate a peace deal with the administration of President Gustavo Petro five times, and talks have repeatedly broken down after bouts of violence. The source packet shows how fragile those negotiations remain: one set of attacks can kill civilians, push families into flight and wipe out trust in the talks almost immediately.

For people living in the region, the immediate concern is survival, not diplomacy. Villages need food, safe passage and a way to avoid being caught between armed groups. For Bogotá, the challenge is to keep humanitarian access open while deciding whether any negotiating track with the ELN still has enough credibility to continue.

The humanitarian response matters as much as the casualty count because thousands of people are now moving through a border region with limited certainty about who controls the ground. Food, hygiene kits and safe passage corridors can reduce the immediate damage, but they do not resolve the political dispute or the armed rivalry that produced the violence. Those conditions make the Catatumbo crisis difficult to stabilize quickly.

The peace talks with the ELN have now failed repeatedly, which means every new round of fighting risks convincing civilians that negotiations will not protect them. The source indicates the group and former FARC members are still contesting a strategic border zone with coca leaf plantations, so the conflict has both military and economic stakes. Until those incentives change, Catatumbo is likely to remain exposed to renewed violence.