A video is causing alarm in Colombia of alleged members of the FARC dissidents standing in front of the Tibú Mayor’s office, in what is a blatant show of their power and presence in the region. The guerrillas are armed and wearing balaclavas in the video. The spokesman announces they belong to the 33rd front of the FARC, specifically urban combat forces, and are here “providing security to all Tibuyans, especially all Catatumberos”. The guerrillas can then be seen walking amongst civilians. Catatumbo is the region the municipality of Tibú is located in, and is a region which sees large amounts of coca cultivation. The FARC dissidents, formed from members of the leftist FARC guerrilla group who rejected the 2016 peace deal with the Colombian state, are heavily involved with cocaine trafficking.
Si hay un lugar en Colombia que demuestra el fracaso del gobierno de @IvanDuque es Tibú. Un comando urbano de las disidencias de las farc hace una formacion militar y graba en la entrada pcipal de la alcaldía de Tibú un mensaje. pic.twitter.com/DeEUhexNEn
— WILFREDO CAÑIZARES (@wilcan91) July 15, 2022
A few hours after the video circulated, the Colombian Army was present in Tibú. Colombia’s defence minister called the video “unacceptable” and stated on twitter the army would “immediately carry out an operation that consolidates security in this municipality.”
This comes after earlier this month a video surfaced of again supposed members of FARC-dissidents patrolling Tibú before going into a pool hall to search and see documents of civilians.
Las FARC en Tibú pidiendo papeles a la comunidad. @COL_EJERCITO @PoliciaColombia @FiscaliaCol pic.twitter.com/dCjBHsAy4B
— María Fernanda Cabal (@MariaFdaCabal) July 4, 2022
