Colombia – ND: First airstrike by the De la Espriella administration is a false positive
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by Nueva Democracia (ND) on August 20.
The roars of the paper tiger, of “tough on crime” and “to be subjugated to justice,” were unleashed. De la Espriella and his Minister of Defense, Jorge Mora, launched the new government’s first aerial bombardment against the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla, in what they called “Operation Beta.” On the night of August 10 and the early morning of August 11, military forces bombarded the Catatumbo mountains in the Tibú and San Calixto areas using artillery, Kfir fighter jets, and A-29 Super Tucano aircraft. According to the army, the operation resulted in the “neutralization” of two ELN members and the “seizure of weapons, 1.5 metric tons of explosives, including 440 grenades […] the locating and destruction of two bunkers and five camps.” Additionally, the statement indicated that the operation was carried out “in accordance with the principles of distinction, proportionality, precaution, and humanity, with special emphasis on the protection of the civilian population.”
However, peasants in the Catatumbo region and social organizations quickly circulated a video showing how the operation impacted a family’s home, leaving three peasants from the El Sinaí village seriously injured by shrapnel from the bombing, in addition to damage to their home and livestock. Several families were also displaced by the army attack. Everything indicates the operation was a false positive (which the army boasted about as a success), because despite the constant show of videos and photos put on by the new government, on this occasion the authorities presented no evidence whatsoever of the destruction of camps or bunkers, nor of the seizure of grenades. The Minister of Defense justified the action by stating that it did not affect the peasants in that area and posted on his X account: “The operation against the ELN took place in Tibú and San Calixto, not in the village of El Sinaí.” However, the Catatumbo residents affirmed that the village of El Sinaí belongs to San Calixto, as confirmed by a document from the Ombudsman’s Office itself.
[Translator’s note – the X post reads: Three peasants reported injured after bombing against the ELN in Norte de Santander Three peasants, including a 44-year-old woman, were reportedly injured during a military bombing raid against members of the ELN in a rural area of Norte de Santander.]
The operation’s failure was also highlighted in an article published by the Semana Magazine, owned by the Gilinski family – the wealthiest family in the country and the main backers of Abelardo De la Espriella’s campaign. In an attempt to whitewash the military’s actions, this disinformation outlet claimed that the ELN itself attacked the civilian population: “Semana has learned that military counterintelligence is investigating a possible high-level leak regarding the operation, which would have allowed the ELN guerrillas to react, to the point that the possible use of drones loaded with explosives against the civilian population, who were apparently injured, is being investigated, in an apparent attempt to delegitimize the Armed Forces’ action.” Regardless of whether this is a ploy by the publication in question, it clearly confirms that the army’s counterinsurgency operation did not achieve its intended success.
On the other hand, a statement from the ELN, published on August 11 and read by Silvana Guerrero, a commander of the guerrilla group, reads: “Given the scale of the operation and the boasts of the so-called president, it appears they are pretending to attack insurgent positions, when in reality they are dropping bombs on populated areas and rural communities.” And asserting that the counterinsurgency offensive did not begin with the new government, she declared: “For Catatumbo, the ‘horrible night’ neither begins nor ends; it persists alongside the plans dictated by the United States empire and carried out by the Colombian State […] the government may have changed, but the criminal practices remain the same because they are part of the counterinsurgency military doctrine and the internal enemy strategy, which seeks to terrorize and ravage entire territories for the extraction of resources, the establishment of drug trafficking enclaves, and the control of a geostrategic territory, such as the border between Colombia and Venezuela.”
This false positive by the new government in the counterinsurgency effort comes on top of another one that marked the end of Petro’s administration. On June 20, just one day before the presidential runoff election, the outgoing president and minister of defense, in what appeared to be a campaign stunt to demonstrate the government’s “successes” in the fight against “narco-terrorism” and to appease Trump, celebrated the killing of the FARC’s second-in-command, alias “Marlon.” However, on July 19, the guerrilla group released a video in which “Marlon” himself appeared. To this day, the government has neither presented his body nor any evidence of his death.
In the aforementioned video, the EMC, among other things, spoke about the new government, declaring that “there is no independence as long as Colombia is governed from the White House […] Faced with this threat, the Colombian people must prepare themselves and not surrender a single inch of land, of moorland, or river […] Giving in to the fear that Abelardo’s emboldened rhetoric seeks to impose is not an option. True resistance is that which becomes organized from the most remote villages to the neighborhoods of the major cities […] It is time for anti-imperialism.”
[Translator’s note – the X post reads: Aliases Marlon and Ñeke, from the dissident groups, whom the Ministry of Defense had declared dead, reappeared in a video and lashed out against the Petro government: “Fake news.”]
Just in the first week of the lackey De la Espriella’s government – following his promise to show results to the Yankees within 90 days and the ultimatum issued to the guerrilla commanders – both the FARC and the ELN have continued and intensified their attacks, with 17 reported attacks against police stations, military bases, toll booths, and State infrastructure. The State’s response, in addition to deepening its alignment with the Yankees and requesting more “aid,” has been the continuation of bombings and ground operations, which have so far resulted in the capture and murder of some guerrillas, but at the same time have left several members of the armed forces wounded or killed. Some army generals acknowledge the advantage the guerrillas now have in their use of new technologies such as drones and the need for the State to continue strengthening its military and police forces.
The Colombian State has spent decades advancing its counterinsurgency plans in military “cooperation” with the United States. The so-called “war on drugs” has for years served as a pretext for the US to combat the guerrilla movement, repress the popular movement, and increase the militarization of Colombia and Latin America. Neither De la Espriella, nor any of the previous governments, is an exception to this policy. With the new government’s boasting about restoring security, the question is: security for whom? Security achieved through bloodshed and violence so that US multinationals can deepen their plunder of our territory; security so that the big landlords can continue concentrating and hoarding land; security so that the Colombian big bourgeoisie and their corporations do not see their mega-businesses “harmed.” That is the security they need. And from that perspective, the Colombian guerrillas remain part of “the narco-terrorist threat”, a problem for the “security of the hemisphere” and therefore must be swept away through the counterinsurgency war led by the United States.
But no matter how loudly he roars, the new “homeland seller” will not be able to fulfill his political promise of crushing the guerrillas and restoring the country’s security in 90 days. The Colombian State has been failing in this endeavor for over 60 years. Plan Patriota 2.0 and its objective of regaining control in every corner of the country will fail, because as long as the Colombian nation and people continue to be oppressed by Yankee imperialism and its lackeys, the big bourgeoisie and the big landlords – the conditions of misery and oppression that fuel armed peasant resistance in our country will persist time and again.
