At the same time that the top leaders issued the ceasefire order as of October 3, the self-styled western war front Omar Gómez of the ELN declared an indefinite armed strike starting at midnight on Monday, July 3, in the entire region of San Juan, Sipí, Cajón and all its tributaries, in the department of Chocó.
In a statement published on the Internet, the illegal armed group called “all the inhabitants and transporters to refrain from circulating in the territories while said order is in force,” and made the following details about the reasons for the armed strike:
That on July 2, 2023 at 8 am, paramilitaries from the Clan de Golfo incursed into the village of Chambacú, Corregimiento de San Agustín, municipality of Sipi, where they murdered a member of the community named José Florencio Condumí, 50 years of age and where her 2-year-old son is injured. The community of said village is currently confined and kidnapped by this paramilitary group, preventing the free movement of its inhabitants.
These events that have been taking place in the San Juan region and throughout the department of Chocó are new to us; the joint actions between the State military forces and the paramilitaries of the Clan de Golfo are permanent. These paramilitary groups advance in the territories under their protection, position permanent bases and launch attacks against the civilian population causing forced displacement, the murder of residents, leaders and social leaders.
We make an urgent call to the Ombudsman, the International Red Cross, the UN, the media and all human rights organizations that carry out the investigations and respective complaints, to be present in these communities to protect the lives of their inhabitants. who are in danger due to the actions of paramilitary groups.
As the Omar Gómez Western War Front, we vehemently reject these actions against the defenseless population and that have nothing to do with the internal armed conflict, and we seriously compromise the start of the ceasefire agreed with the national government since August 3, 2023. We also hold the Minister of Defense Iván Velásquez Gómez and the military commanders in the department of Choco responsible for all these actions against the civilian population and that violate international humanitarian law; Oscar Leonel Murillo Diaz, and Hector Alfonso Candelario. They are the ones who intend to destroy any type of dialogue with the ELN. with RSF