Colombia’s ELN rebels face US drug threats amid push for peace talks

Colombia’s most tense frontier is the Catatumbo region, which extends along the border with Venezuela in the Norte de Santander department.

This border region, which is rich in oil reserves and coca plants but impoverished and neglected, has historically seen violent fighting between armed groups battling for territorial control.

Colombia’s largest remaining guerrilla force, the National Liberation Army (ELN), is active across Venezuela’s porous border.

Some of their fighters drive us to meet their commanders after they arrange for an Al Jazeera reporting team there.

This region is still rife with tension. Despite peace negotiations reached in 2016, thousands of people were forced to flee in January as a result of fighting between the ELN and a rebellious faction from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The conflict centers on gaining access to Venezuela’s border, which is a crucial means of removing drugs from the country.

When you first enter the area, you immediately see that this is where the ELN is absolute control. There is no proof that the nation’s military exists. The sideroads are decorated with ENL flags, and the signs express the group’s current perception of Colombia.

They claim that “total peace is a failure.”

Mobile phone signal is also lacking. The Al Jazeera team is informed that phone companies do not want to pay taxes on the armed groups that control the area.

When Gustavo Petro became president, he vowed to put a total peace plan into place with the armed groups in Colombia. However, the ELN’s negotiations, especially those with them, were difficult.

Government officials in Catatumbo have suspended the peace talks, but they now say they are prepared to resume them.

In a small, mountainous home, Al Jazeera interacts with Commander Ricardo and Commander Silvana. They claim that the interview needs to go quickly because they are concerned about potential drone attacks and reconnaissance reconnaissance aircraft flying around the area.

Some of their rivals accompany the commanders. When asked how many people live nearby, they respond, “We are thousands, and not everyone is wearing their uniform.” Some are “urban guerrillas”

According to the government, there are about 3, 000 fighters in the ELN. However, it could be much higher.

The region’s commander Ricardo claims there may be a chance for peace.

He claims that the ELN has been battling for a political solution for 30 years, despite various challenges. We hoped that Petro would help us advance along the way. But that was a thing. In Colombia, there has never been peace. The graves’ peace is what we have.

Prior to the talks being suspended, the group and the government had been negotiating in Mexico. Our central command would, in my opinion, agree that the agreements we reached in Mexico could pave the way for a political solution to this conflict, Commander Ricardo tells Al Jazeera.

US threat of drugs

Armed groups are also on alert in this area due to the conflict between the Colombian state and itself. What was once a domestic Colombian conflict has gained an international dimension thanks to the US military campaign against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific and the US’s aggressive attitude toward Venezuela’s neighbor.

These people are not referred to as guerrillas but as “narco-terrorists” by US President Donald Trump’s administration, and it is not a possibility that they will be attacked on Colombian soil.

More than 62 people have died as a result of the US operation, which started in early September, along with 14 boats and a semi-submersible.

Some of the commanders’ extradition requests are made by the US, and they are alleged to be wanted criminals.

The ELN views US strikes against alleged drug-carriers in the Caribbean as another example of US imperialism, as well as the military deployment there to put pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro.

One of those boats, according to the US government, belonged to the ELN. Why don’t they capture them and disclose what they did to the world? Asks Commander Ricardo. “But no, they bomb them,” they reply.

He also issues a warning about the possibility of the ELN collaborating with the US. We will have to see how we react if Trump attacks Venezuela, he says, but that’s not just for the better. Because I’m certain there will be many, many people who will use a weapon because it’s too much, “It’s] all of Latin America.” It must end that the United States has the power to rule over people without allowing them to exercise their right to self-determination.

The Cuban Revolution served as an inspiration for the ELN. However, it has been involved in extortion, drug trafficking, and kidnappings over the years.

The ELN is different from other armed organizations in the country, according to Commander Silvana, who was a teenager when she first joined the organization.

She claims that “our principles indicate that we are not involved in drug trafficking.” The international community has been informed of this. Taxes remain in the regions that we have controlled for over 60 years. Of course, we also tax coca if it exists.

Colombia has long been a key US ally in the fight against drug trafficking. Petro has since started to question US policy in the Caribbean, contending that Washington’s approach to security and immigration is more accurate than regional realities.

He has criticized the US military’s presence and naval operations close to Venezuela, warning that they could lead to tensions rather than fostering cooperation.

Trump has claimed that Petro, a former guerrilla, is a drug trafficker by himself.

Petro retorted incredulously, saying, “Colombia has never been rude to the United States.” It has, in fact, devoted a lot of its time to its culture. But you don’t know anything about Colombia.

Trump’s remarks were also criticized as offensive and a direct threat to Colombia’s sovereignty by the country’s foreign ministry, which vowed to demand international support for Petro and Colombia’s autonomy.

A local Colombian conflict could become a larger regional conflict as a result of the belligerent US policy toward Venezuela and Colombia, both led by leftist presidents.

Source: Aljazeera