Why does the ELN decree an «indefinite armed strike» despite the dialogue in Colombia?

The so-called western war front «Omar Gómez» of the guerrilla National Liberation Army (ELN) decreed the start of an «indefinite armed strike», which will take effect this Thursday at 6:00 pm in several communities in the departments of Chocó and Valle del Cauca, in northwestern Colombia, to supposedly «make visible» the «serious humanitarian situation» that the civilian population is experiencing due to the action of paramilitary groups.

The guerrilla group, which last Monday agreed with the Colombian government to carry out humanitarian relief in those departments, argued that the measure responds to the fact that in that area of the country there would be an «alliance between public forces and paramilitaries» to «assassinate guerrilla commanders» and to «fight the insurgency, and to subdue and intimidate the civilian population», reports RT.

“The public force is responsible for what is happening due to the collusion with the paramilitaries. The presence of the Army in the district of San Miguel and the concentration of paramilitaries in front of the people in La Peña and in the Minguimalo ravine is public knowledge. You don’t even need a military effort to find out what is happening in the mentioned sector», says the text to which the Colombian press had access.

The ELN explained that last Monday, December 12, the paramilitaries who entered the area murdered a young man identified as Santiago Felipe Cáceres Murillo in the Negría district of the Istmina municipality. «They threw him into the river without even allowing his relatives to remove the body». In addition, they report that there is another boy who is missing.

For its part, the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office reported that the events that occurred in Negría were carried out by the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC)-Clan del Golfo against the Afro-descendant community in that area, who were forced to participate in a «community meeting» to intimidate them, damage and steal their property, and assassinate Felipe Cáceres, «whose body was thrown into the San Juan River and has not yet been recovered».

After these events, the population of Negría was forced to completely displaced itself (141 people) to the township of San Miguel in the municipality of Medio San Juan and to the municipal seat of Istmina – added the Ombudsman –  detailing that the same community had already been a ‘victim of displacement’ in the months of January, February and April.Rejection and loss of credibility of the ELN

The indefinite armed strike announced by the ELN would prevent mobility from this Thursday along the San Juan River and its tributaries. The measure directly affects the communities of San Juan, Sipí, Cajón and Calima, and contradicts the calls for a ceasefire requested by the communities.

Regarding this situation, Danilo Rueda, High Commissioner for Peace and a participant in the peace dialogue with the ELN, told local media that the guerrilla group should act coherently in the process they carried out in Caracas, Venezuela, because they lose credibility with respect to what they have already advanced.

«The ELN must act in coherence if we are in a scenario of peace, and it should consider and value that this type of communications does not benefit the credibility that they can gain before public opinion, in the desire for peace»,  commented Rueda.

Rueda specified that this unilateral measure only affects the ELN and in no way affects government policy. «We continue to act in coherence, all the issues that are raised in that statement are being addressed in the coherence of the human security policy of this Government», he added.

For his part, the director of the National Police, Henry Armando Sanabria Cely, told the local press that the authorities are on maximum alert after the guerrilla group’s announcement and that specialized units were ordered to be deployed to strengthen preventive actions in Chocó and Valle del Cauca.

He added that the security alert involves 4,000 uniformed officers plus an «additional deployment» of 400 men moving towards conflict zones. The police chief added that they are also carrying out operations against possible ELN actions in areas of Antioquia, Cauca, Nariño, Arauca and Casanare.»It is not a message of peace»

For his part, the Colombian ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, said, during an institutional event, that he «forcefully» rejected the ELN’s measure, considering that «the announcement of an armed strike is not a message of peace» nor of «reconciliation».

«You cannot be advancing negotiation processes, dialogues, when we do not express and send an unequivocal message to the Colombian people through concrete gestures of peace», added Camargo, who called for the immediate suspension of any action by the irregular armed group.

Camargo indicated that «while the National Government conducts talks and negotiations with various armed actors, the voice of the victims must be carefully listened to, and their rights to truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition will have to be guaranteed».

«The call that, once again, we make from the Ombudsman, is to tell any illegal armed group, any organized armed group, particularly the ELN, that Colombian men and women require unequivocal gestures, genuine gestures of peace, because after advancing the first cycle of negotiations and dialogues that concluded on December 12, they promised not to take action against the civilian population», he said.

Camargo asked the Central Command of the ELN for a pronouncement on this situation so as not to lose the confidence that the peace dialogue has been advanced and expressed the willingness of the Ombudsman to accompany the process.

In addition, he reported that he delegated a team to «directly accompany» the confined population after the announcement of the armed strike, and articulate efforts to guarantee the rights of the communities.