At least 148,000 inhabitants of the city of Yopal and the municipality of Aguazul, in the department of Casanare, are at high risk of violation of their rights due to the claim of three illegal armed groups, such as the dissidents of the Farc, the ELN and the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC – Clan del Golfo), to retake and consolidate control in that region of the eastern country.
This was evidenced after the entity issued Early Warning 023-2023, in which it details the threat factors that the three armed groups represent for the civilian population.
The Early Warning, which was delivered to the Ministry of the Interior, evidences the risks due to the presence of the Farc dissidents, from the 10th and 28th fronts. This group carries out armed, publicity and media actions, pressures the communities and collects finances for its reconfiguration and regional positioning.
The ELN guerrilla, for its part, not only exerts pressure against the population, but also against social leaders and recruits children and adolescents. Likewise, and in accordance with the warning document from the Ombudsman’s Office, the State security forces and their facilities, in the urban areas of Aguazul and Yopal, have been the target of the criminal actions of this armed group.
Another source of threat to the two populations is configured by the AGC-Clan del Golfo. Its members want to consolidate themselves in the region to establish themselves in the illicit work of micro-trafficking towards the center of the country, but also to spread through drug trafficking corridors towards Venezuela, Brazil, Central America, the United States and Europe.
“We delivered 32 recommendations for the Government and local authorities to address the risks evidenced in the Alert. The implementation of both preventive and humanitarian actions is urgently needed to avoid the presence and consolidation of these illegal armed groups, who want to subdue the population”, pointed out the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo.
Source: Ombudsman