Photo composition showing two ELN members with the Venezuelan flag in the background. Photo: UWI.
By Oscar Rotundo – Feb 3, 2025
Bourgeois liberal democracy and the âDeep Stateâ of the pro-imperialist power bloc form the superstructure on which governance in Colombia is based, with the colonized army as guarantor.
In this reality, a permanent struggle is taking place between the interests of the popular sectors for the construction of an equitable society with social justice, economic and political sovereignty and those of the civil-military oligarchy that have no qualms about turning Colombia into a colonial republic, subordinated to the policies and geostrategic interests of the United States.
With the victory of Gustavo Petro to the presidency of the country, many sectors âgot excitedâ that the task of pacifying and democratizing economic and political life in 4 years would be a less complicated task than it could actually be, taking into account the broad arc that this candidacy built and accompanied the presidential formula.
Situation in Catatumbo
In the department of Norte de Santander, specifically in the western sub-region, is the Catatumbo region (house of thunder) in the BarĂ language, which has about 300 thousand inhabitants.
The Colombian Catatumbo region is highly complex in economic, social and political terms, being located on a binational border with a history of ethnic and social conflicts including armed conflict.
That is why Catatumbo is the weak link in the âtotal peaceâ policy, especially for the populations, societies and communities of the 11 municipalities in that region.
Within this complexity we find that the governmentâs proposal for âTotal Peaceâ with community participation has not had the result that was expected from the campaign narrative. This has been due to the responsibility of the different actors involved, mainly the High Commissioner for Peace Otty Patiño, and other members of Gustavo Petroâs government.
The failure to implement comprehensive agrarian reform, the failure of the voluntary substitution policy for illicit crops, and the lack of protection of the lives of former combatants who signed the 2016 peace accords and remained in the region to implement the reform, reveal the dangerous absence of the State, as reflected by various social, indigenous, and peasant organizations.
The issue of land ownership and legal clashes with bureaucracy increase conflict in the region. âEffective access to rural property faces difficulties related to a high level of informality in property, interethnic conflicts and the undue occupation of protected areas,â according to a report by the Territorial Development Program (PDET).
On January 20, clashes between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the dissident 33rd Front of the FARC left an estimated 80 dead, according to counts by the Ombudsmanâs Office and the Government of Norte de Santander. Estimated, because only 41 bodies have been recovered due to the situation in remote rural areas of Catatumbo, where the authorities had not yet been able to access.
The fighting caused the displacement of more than 36,000 people, mainly to CĂșcuta, the departmental capital, and the towns of Ocaña and TibĂș.
In the first days of the confrontation, it was estimated that hundreds of people crossed the border into Venezuela every day.
The Venezuela factor
The Venezuela factor comes into play with the visit of Ălvaro Uribe VĂ©lez on January 12 to CĂșcuta, capital of Norte de Santander, governed for the third time by William Villamizar, the former presidentâs successor, where he led a rally in the city center in support of MarĂa Corina Machado and Edmundo GonzĂĄlez and in which he expressed, âwhat we are asking for is an international military intervention, accompanied by the Venezuelan Army and preferably endorsed by the UN, to dislodge the dictatorship.â
It is worth remembering that Norte de Santander, Colombia, shares a border with the Venezuelan states of TĂĄchira and Zulia, the latter being the most populated electoral district of that country, governed by Manuel Rosales, one of the historical leaders of the Venezuelan opposition. Over the years, Zulia has been the theater of a series of conflicts, including the presence of armed groups, the illegal exploitation of natural resources, smuggling and a migration crisis.
Days after Uribeâs presence in CĂșcuta, this tragedy occurred, which is functional to the agenda of destabilization and chaos in which the pro-imperialist deep state is engaged. On the one hand, they point to the increasing wear and tear of Gustavo Petroâs government and on the other to the chaos and militarization of the border with Venezuela, which also serves as a guarantor of dialogue between the ELN and the Colombian government to reach a peace agreement.
In view of the serious events in that region, President Gustavo Petro traveled to TibĂș (Norte de Santander) to announce the âState of Internal Commotion and Militarizationâ, mounting a counterinsurgency operation, while continuing to postpone the signing and execution of the so-called Territorial Pact for Catatumbo, an agreement by which the National Government committed itself to the communities so that the State would begin to pay the historic social debt with this area of the country.
The âstate of emergencyâ in the northeast of the country is a figure that gives him extraordinary legislative powers and the possibility of restricting some rights with which he seeks to address the recent escalation of violence. This presidential decision has not occurred in that area since Ălvaro Uribe VĂ©lez created âspecial zonesâ in Arauca more than 20 years ago when the insurgency was still strong.
With the application of this measure, we have observed that military forces wearing uniforms and carrying backpacks with the Colombian and United States flags have begun to land in the area, as part of the Southern Vanguard binational exercise (exercise of US and Colombian troops) to take up position and deploy in the region.
A story and a scenario of unpredictable consequences
JosĂ© Carlos Cueto, a paid journalist of the establishment and correspondent for BBC News Mundo in Colombia, has pointed out in an editorial, fed by sources from the imperialist network: âOn multiple occasions and through the commanders of the Eastern Front of the ELN, guerrilla leaders declared loyalty to Maduro and his project, which they conceive as a continent-wide socialist one.â Cueto adds, âa 2024 report by the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation in Colombia described that the ELN arrives in territories presenting itself as defenders of the âBolivarian revolutionâ and that âthe Human Rights Watch organization, also based on information from âmultiple witnesses, displaced persons, and humanitarian officialsâ, testified in 2022 about âjoint operationsâ of the FANB and the Bolivarian National Guard with âELN guerrillas.â
This script, repeated over and over again to associate the Bolivarian government with the Colombian insurgency, is back on the table at a time when Donald Trump, a conspirator and necessary participant in the coup against Evo Morales in 2019, places Cuba among the countries sponsoring terrorism without any solid argument, and Marco Rubio, the new Secretary of State of the Trump government, gloats by saying in his column in the Miami Herald in August 2024, âThe result of this electoral farce was totally predictable from the beginning. Even more so because of the three years of concessions and negotiations with the Maduro narco-dictatorship âŠâ and in July 2017 he said, âDiosdado Cabello is not a simple political leader, he is todayâs Pablo Escobar of Venezuela, a drug trafficker.â
In the midst of this operation to destabilize both the Petro government and the Bolivarian Revolution, the Colombian president said that he âhas been in contact with NicolĂĄs Maduro to launch an action plan to âeradicateâ armed groups from the border with Venezuela,â leaving a rather striking post on X: âI have spoken with the president of Venezuela, NicolĂĄs Maduro, to cover illegal crossings, especially on the Catatumbo River, and to take action with flights from both sides, we contacted (sic) the presence of 1,580 compatriots in a refugee camp on the other side.â
Between threats and ambiguities, the situation on the border between the two countries is becoming very worrying. On the Venezuelan side, the Bolivarian Shield 2025 Military Exercises in Defense of Peace and Democracy are being carried out, and on the Colombian side, with the presence of the regular army in a war scenario, all kinds of provocations can be set in motion.
A government harassed by the public prosecutorâs office and the parliament that is showing increasing deterioration months before an electoral process, cannot present itself ambiguously in its relationship with a neighboring government that is essential to unblocking the events in Catatumbo.
The criminal, paramilitary and mafia right wing that governs Norte de Santander knows how to exploit the contradictions between the government bureaucracy and the needs of the peasant and productive population of the region. The right does not want peace, nor crop substitution, nor respectful relations with the Bolivarian government. It wants to continue fueling chaos for its own benefit and destabilize the region to complement the hegemonic plans of the southern command.
The militarization of Catatumbo opens the door to a provocation that will further harm the unity and understanding between two governments that, given the regional reality, should be closely linked. The poor interpretation of what happened in the July 28 elections in Venezuela and the timid attitude in the treatment given by President Petro to NicolĂĄs Maduro can complicate things even more.
