Last weekend, the ELN’s Western war front declared an “armed strike” in the department of Chocó, despite the cessation of hostilities ordered by the Central Command, “starting at midnight on July 6.” in compliance with the agreement signed by the delegations on June 9, in Havana, Cuba, after the closure of the third cycle of dialogues.
The announcement of the “armed strike”, made by alias ‘Gerson’, leader of the ELN, has left 52 communities confined, including 41 Afro-descendant communities and 11 indigenous communities. These communities are afraid of traveling by land and waterways, since an audio was circulated in which the inhabitants and transporters were warned that they should refrain from traveling in territories such as San Juan, Nóvita, Sipí, Cajón and Istmina while said order is in force. This situation has exacerbated the crisis, since the communities in the south of the department do not have access to food.
Faced with this situation, the Ombudsman’s Office in the department of Risaralda is on alert, since there is the possibility that the disturbance to the inhabitants and transporters that go to and from the department of Chocó to Risaralda and vice versa will resume.
Fustel Antonio Manyoma Gil, Ombudsman for Risaralda
Photo: supplied
“Of course, the issue of mobility is what worries us the most. With the people who live on this border and who use this means of land transportation on a daily basis, that their vehicles be incinerated as has been happening in recent months,” expressed Fustel Antonio Manyoma Gil, Ombudsman for Risaralda.
Let us remember that, last May, armed men from the ‘Cacique Calarcá’ front claimed responsibility for burning three intermunicipal buses belonging to the transport company Flota Occidental on the road that connects the departments of Risaralda and Chocó.
Likewise, the ombudsman’s office is on alert for the possibility of displacement of people living in Mistrató, near the border between the departments of Chocó and Antioquia, in San Antonio del Chami and the villages of Alto San Juan, after the fifth strike. armed conflict that affects the inhabitants of the western part of the country.
For this reason, several meetings have been held to anticipate the possible consequences and the displacement of a large number of families from Alto Andágueda de Bagadó and the entire border area with the department of Chocó.
According to the Ombudsman for Risaralda, there is the possibility that: “More than 300 people, inhabitants of Alto Andágueda in the department of Chocó, could move to the city of Pereira.”
Given this statement, El Diario contacted the Secretary of Government of the department of Risaralda, Israel Londoño, to learn about the actions taken by the government. However, the government secretary affirmed that the armed strike in the department of Chocó “is not confirmed”, since indigenous leaders of the region declared yesterday in a meeting that they were only speculations.
However, the governor of Chocó, Ariel Palacios, confirmed that five municipalities in his department are confined due to the presence of the northwestern bloc of the ELN in the area. In addition, the governor expressed his concern about the existing confrontation between the ELN and the Clan del Golfo in the department, which creates uncertainty about what may happen.
In fact, the president recalled that in recent days there have been displacements in some municipalities due to clashes between structures of both illegal armed groups. “We don’t know if they are going to continue in this confrontation because those are the ones who keep the population in the middle of the crossfire,” he pointed out.
Faced with this situation, Ariel Palacios asked President Gustavo Petro to deal with the situation and expressed his concern about the difficulties for the displacement of officials from the National Registry, who intend to register IDs in the affected municipalities, with a view to the elections. Regionals on October 29.
The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) reported that, due to the indefinite armed strike in Chocó, officials linked to the municipal Registries of Nóvita, Sipí, Istmina, Medio San Juan, Río Iró and Litoral de San Juan have not been able to access polling stations in rural areas to begin the process of registering IDs, which was to begin on July 5. This affects 42 corregimientos in those municipalities, although it could be extended to 62 polling stations in the rural area of the region.
Faced with this, the EOM recommended taking the necessary actions to guarantee the displacement of electoral officials and establish plans that make it possible to have safe spaces for the development of electoral activities.
For his part, the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, announced that the National Government is having difficulties in guaranteeing compliance with the cessation of hostilities, and affirmed that they are accompanying the communities of Sipí, in Chocó, who are living a situation of displacement and armed confrontations between the ELN and the AGC (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia).