Colombia sends troops as guerrilla violence drives tens of thousands from their homes
*Event date: 2025-01-20*
Colombia declared emergency measures and deployed thousands of soldiers after a sudden burst of guerrilla violence killed at least 100 people and drove nearly 20,000 from their homes in the country’s northeast.
France 24 reported that President Gustavo Petro said the National Liberation Army, or ELN, had chosen “the path of war” and that “war they shall have.” The government declared a localized state of internal unrest and an economic emergency, giving local authorities more power to restrict movement and respond to the crisis.
The latest violence has been especially severe in border areas near Venezuela and in parts of the country’s Amazon region. In the northeast, more than 19,800 people were said to be sheltering in Tibú and nearby towns after fleeing fighting. Some crossed into Venezuela. In the south, the defense ministry said 20 people were killed in clashes between rival left-wing groups in Guaviare.
The figures point to more than one conflict at once. The ELN was blamed for attacks on rival leftist groups in the border region, while FARC splinter factions were fighting each other elsewhere. Analysts cited by France 24 said the violence reflected a turf war shaped by the cocaine trade and by the fragility of Colombia’s peace process.
Petro had previously built his politics around de-escalation and dialogue, but the scale of the latest fighting appears to have forced a sharper line. France 24 said about 5,000 troops were already being deployed to the border area. AFP reporters in Tibú saw soldiers assembling in barracks and waiting for orders, although they had not yet moved into the most critical zones.
The human cost is visible in the movement of civilians. People fled on motorcycles, boats and open trucks, carrying whatever they could. One farmer told AFP it was painful to leave Colombia and that he hoped the situation would be resolved so he could return. That kind of testimony shows that the crisis is not only military; it is uprooting rural communities that often have few safe options.
The broader conflict has deep roots. France 24 noted that a 2016 peace deal with FARC was hailed as a turning point after decades of war involving guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug gangs. But dissident factions remain active, and Colombia still suffers from armed groups that see peace talks as a threat to their income and influence.
That helps explain why the latest surge is more than a temporary security incident. It is a test of whether Petro’s “total peace” strategy can contain groups that profit from instability. Critics argue that negotiations have given armed actors room to grow; supporters argue that the state still has to find ways to bring long-running conflicts under control without simply escalating every confrontation.
For now, the government’s response is one of force and emergency powers. The violence has already crossed the threshold from local fighting to national crisis, and the number of displaced people keeps rising.
The question now is whether the troops can stabilise the border before the unrest becomes a broader blow to Colombia’s already fragile peace architecture.
