For a week about 1,500 people from the communities of Torrá, Cajón and Santa Bárbara, in the municipality of Nóvita; and Charco Largo, Barrancón, Dominguito and Charco Hondo, in Sipí, are confined by the indefinite “armed strike” declared by the ELN and by the clashes between this group and AGC paramilitaries.
Nobody can mobilize, neither by land nor by rivers, for fear of reprisals from illegal armed groups. “Because of the dispute over the territory between some groups outside the law that are fighting for that area,” explains Tulio Hurtado, representative of the Nóvita community council.
“In Nóvita and Sipí, the humanitarian crisis has worsened these days due to the clashes between the groups that are here in the region,” said Father Albeiro Parra, coordinator of the Pacific region.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office and the Catholic Church, this armed strike is the fifth this year in the San Juan subregion, the epicenter of the dispute between the ELN and the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC).
The governor in charge of Chocó, Farlin Perea, announced aid for the area. “Food and toilet kits for people. We are attentive to provide the accompaniment and that the government team also travel and can do what is pertinent, “said the official.
From the regional coordination of the Pacific, they called on the government of President Gustavo Petro and the ELN to extend humanitarian relief in Chocó to other municipalities.
“The municipalities of Istmina, Sipí and Nóvita, because this is a single region, a single corridor”, explains Father Albeiro Parra.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office, the community councils of Sipí and Nóvita are victims of intimidation by the AGC, which includes extorting peasants for transporting their food. There is also an increase in the installation of booby traps.
Despite the fact that this subregion was visited and prioritized by the National Government and the ELN to receive humanitarian relief, this is still not evident in the territories, and on the contrary, “a phase of escalation of the conflict persists in the area, where our Early Warning System (SAT) has been identifying and warning, in the last two years, an increase in violations of human rights due to the dispute between illegal armed groups for control of territories for the development of criminal activities ” assured Carlos Camargo Assis, Ombudsman.