The end of December and time for our monthly review of how the peace process has evolved. Frankly, poorly, but it was a light month as everyone got ready for the holidays: even guerrilla want to be home for Christmas it seems. But I also thought it time to look back at the year leveraging a statistical analysis by Indepaz as well as our own database.
In a recent announcement, the Colombian Army revealed a distressing incident in the rural area of Puerto Triunfo, located in the municipality of Puerto Gaitán, Meta.
A tumultuous month starts with a high-profile kidnapping, passes through suspension of talks with both ELN and alias Mordisco, but ends with everyone back at the table. In the middle, Petro finally realized what everyone in Colombia already knew: that Danilo Rueda was not the right person for High Peace Commissioner. Government Chief Negotiator for the ELN process, Otty Patiño now has the hot seat.
A recent oil spill in Cimitarra, Santander, has set off an emergency response in the region.
Most of the news this month on the Petro government’s “Total Peace” initiative concerned ongoing battles between the various armed groups with civilians the primary victims. Even the Armed Forces violated its trust. But never mind, the negotiations continue regardless.
With the ELN ceasefire starting, this should have been a positive month. It wasn’t. The ELN were doing their usual things to undermine Colombians’ confidence and even the High Peace Commissioner expressed impatience with the dissident FARC.
In yet another unfortunate incident, the Coveñas Caño Limón (CCL) oil pipeline fell victim to an attack by armed groups.
For several decades, terrorist attacks stemming from the country’s armed conflict have targeted Ecopetrol’s infrastructure and the installed illegal valves for systematic hydrocarbon theft.
I collected a few more articles this month (99) than last month (94) and Colombia had some dramatic incidents. But mostly this month was working through the details of the ELN ceasefire that starts the first week of August. More discussions in Buenaventura and trying to get back to the table with Alias Mordisco kept the High Commissioner and the President busy.
While President Gustavo Petro claims that the war between the State and insurgent groups was coming to an end, illegal armed groups disrupted public order in the southern region of Colombia.
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