Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) reportedly took two civilians captive in Remedios, Antioquia, a state located in western Colombia near the Colombia-Panama border, on Wednesday.
Suspected Double Loyalties
Among the pair is the treasurer of the Community Action Board of the Lejanias village of the Carrizal-Remedios district, Juan Carlos Jiménez Moreno, alongside Armando De Jesus Barroso Herazo, who lives in the area, Semana reports. The ELN reportedly entered the village in which both hostages were residing in order to investigate them for connections to Clan del Golfo, also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), a rival narcotics trafficking organization that is believed to be Colombia’s largest narcotics producer and distributor.
“According to the information available, apparently this incident was perpetrated by members of the ELN, who took the aforementioned citizens from the Lejanias village against their will, apparently to investigate them about possible collaborations that they are providing to the Clan del Golfo-EGC, and to date, they have not been released,” the local government told the Colombian military in a document.
“It should be noted that this information was provided by a human source who requested that his data be kept confidential; however, it is sent for your knowledge and pertinent purposes and in response to the duty of complaint that falls on public servants regarding situations that meet the conditions of a criminal act that must be investigated ex officio.” They concluded in their document.
Citing judicial sources, Semana reports that the pair were taken captive in the Mina Nueva sector, located in the southern reaches of the Bolivar Department, after receiving a summons by the armed guerilla group. The outlet further reported that Community Action Boards and indigenous guards were en route to the location of the reported abduction in order to work towards the release of the pair and to ascertain the status of those held hostage.
The Continuing Conflict
These kidnappings come amid the Colombian Conflict, a conflict characterized by a multifaceted war between leftist guerillas, right-wing paramilitaries, and government forces. Recently, increased attacks on authorities and civilians have been reported across Colombia, most notably in the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, where members of a splinter faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia known as the Estado Mayor Central (FARC-EMC) have repeatedly clashed with authorities. These clashes culminated in the siege of the municipalities of Jamundi, Valle del Cauca, and Morales, Cauca, where guerillas were reported to have conducted armed patrols in Morales, while a bank robbery allegedly organized by the FARC-EMC was reported hours later.
Violence has only worsened between government forces and armed groups following the dissolution of a ceasefire between the government and the FARC-EMC alongside a stall in peace talks with the ELN. This stall followed the government’s decision to enter talks with the ELN in Narino outside of the national representatives for the armed group, a move the national leadership ultimately rejected.
The ELN claims this front is in reality a part of the government’s plan to target the group’s command structure in one of the group’s publications, Insurreccion 947. The group claims that the peace talks with the Narino front have only matured due to the supposed government agent’s failure to target the core leadership of the ELN.
Furthermore, the publication states that this issue was brought up by the organization’s official negotiators at meetings with the Colombian government but was ultimately ignored, resulting in the ELN leaving the talks.
“Now, activating the supposed ‘dissidence,’ the government has given priority to said setup, relegating the official Roundtable with the ELN and therefore confirming that its priority is to hold peace dialogue with its own intelligence agents,” the publication stated.
These ceasefires come amid Petro’s controversial plan to bring “total peace” to Colombia in an attempt to end the internal conflict that has plagued the nation for over 60 years and has led to the deaths of at least 450,000 people. This plan is characterized by the president’s attempts to make peace with the various armed groups active in Colombia as opposed to military action in an effort to wipe them out.
This plan has achieved mixed results. While peace deals have been agreed upon by the government and armed groups, these periods of peace have allowed armed groups to increase their territorial control and numbers and expand narcotics production and smuggling operations.