Colombia. President Gustavo Petro ordered the security forces to “attack” the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN), which imposed a confinement on civilians in areas under its control to carry out military exercises.
The largest rebel organization in the Americas ordered mobility restrictions for 72 hours as it prepares to “defend” the country against the “intervention threats” of U.S. President Donald Trump.
This measure implies that civilians cannot travel by roads or rivers in regions where the ELN is the de facto authority.
President Petro wrote on X that he had ordered to “attack the ELN and defend the people of Colombia against any threat.”
Moreover, he urged Colombians to go out “without fear.” “We will not allow ourselves to be threatened” by “traquetos (drug traffickers) dressed as revolutionaries.”
The ELN, which was born in 1964 inspired by the Cuban revolution, has a presence in at least 20% of Colombia’s more than 1,100 municipalities, according to the Insight Crime think tank.
Petro had attempted to negotiate peace with the rebels after coming to power in 2022, but the talks were not successful.
In January, the ELN killed more than 100 people in a border region with Venezuela, which shelved the negotiations.
The guerrillas, who traffic cocaine, believe that the United States plans to carry out military operations in Colombia.
