He THE N referred to the attack perpetrated against the National Army in Villanueva, municipality of El Carmen, Norte de Santander, in which nine uniformed officers died, seven of whom were young men who were providing the compulsory military service. Through a statement, the guerrillas assured that it was a response to the militarization of the region and that the national government does not have the same disposition as they do to reach the ‘Total Peace‘.
“(…) it is in response to the militarization in the region, the abuses by the public force against the civilian population, the assassinations of social leaders, Human Rights Defenders and against the alliance that it maintains with narco-paramilitary groups sponsored by the Colombian State”, wrote the THE N in his statement.
Likewise, the guerrilla group assured that Army troops captured seven of its members alive and later killed them defenselessly in front of the civilian population. Supposedly, these events occurred in the rural area of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, on January 28.
“The current Colombian Government, which has expressed its public condemnation of State terrorism and has affirmed that it will not consent to corruption or violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law within the Armed Forces, did nothing in the face of this War Crime.” the guerrillas said about it.
Consequently, the ELN assured that: “As long as they continue to terrorize and assassinate the civilian population with the alliance of the Military Forces and the narco-paramilitaries, we will remain firmly in the fight, fighting militarily the state and para-state forces, which for several years They are bleeding our people dry.”
It should be remembered that, after the attack, the president Gustavo Petro agreed with his negotiating team and representatives of the guarantor countries of the peace process with the THE N that the dialogues will continue. In addition, he instructed that a cessation of hostilities and a civil participation mechanism be agreed during the third cycle of talks, which will take place in Havana (Cuba).
Additionally, the head of state asked his negotiating team to ask the guerrillas if their intention is to get out of the armed conflict or accumulate forces while it develops.
For his part, antonio garciaELN commander, expressed the importance of meeting with President Petro to analyze the attacks by the military forces against the guerrillas.
“In the meeting that President Petro has convened for the next few days where the action carried out in Guamalito, Norte de Santander will be analyzed, the attacks carried out by the Military and Police Forces against the ELN must also be analyzed,” said Antonio García in his twitter account.
In another trill, the top commander of the guerrilla group made a compilation of attacks by the Colombian armed forces against the ELN:
In addition, antonio garcia It stated that: “Since January of this year, the ELN has received a series of attacks and there has never been any pronouncement, either from government officials or from the media, pointing out said attacks against the ELN as attacks against peace.”
Consequently, it stated that: “The ELN has the right to respond to the attacks it receives, since we have not yet agreed to any bilateral ceasefire. If we disqualify the actions carried out by the ELN, we should also disqualify those carried out by government forces”.
Among the victims of the attack perpetrated by the ELN against the Army, two non-commissioned officers and seven soldiers who were doing their military service died. They all belonged to Special Energy and Road Battalion number 10which provides security in the village of Villa Nueva, of the corregimiento de Guamalitoin El Carmen, North Santander.
