All wars, confrontations and armed conflicts have a history of their origins, with their causes and reasons, as well as leaving an imprint on the future. With this current affairs, it will also be the same, everything will be known.
Thus, the confrontation that is being experienced today in Catatumbo must be sought in what has been the result of a peace policy, where the central objective has been demobilization and disarmament, which in the end fell into the whirlpool where violence is recycled. After the demobilization in 2016, there were no FARC guerrillas left in Catatumbo, only vestiges of some “militias,” which supposedly did not share what happened and were guided by the Secretariat, completely demobilized.
Among these “militiamen” was “John Mechas,” who when talking with some comrades of the ELN said that he came in an effort with other people to return to arms, but with different approaches, to rectify deviations and mistakes with the communities, as well as within his own ranks, where he was more considerate of the combatants and the bases. In this context, he requested support and in solidarity the comrades of the Northeastern War Front offered it. In the exchanges, which took place at that time, even amongst the recently demobilized, the comrades asked “John Mechas”: “If the ELN had been the demobilized organization, and the FARC had been the one that was still in arms, what would you have done?” Without thinking for a second he answered: “I would have killed them.”
The comrades were left in one piece. No other answer could be expected, since it was the training received and the practice lived. After many meetings, many agreements, the pressure to modify the sentiment prevailed. Little political exchange could be experienced in this period and the old practice of what was experienced with the ex-FARC returned, which will be another chapter about which we have to talk, because reflection on all the armed movements in Colombia is still to be done, and for that reason little is understood about what true peace is. The comrades say that the second in command of that supposed guerrilla group, named “Richard,” arrived at those meetings, carrying 7 pistols in his vest, perhaps showing that his language is of a different type, wherever he passed he did not speak, he threatened.
Tensions in Catatumbo continued to grow as a result of the non-compliance with agreements and impositions on the population, as the comrades from the Northeast say: so much does the pitcher go into the water, that it ends up breaking.
The trigger was the vile murder of Miguel Ángel López, along with his wife, Zulay Durán Pacheco and their young son, to vilely foist it on the ELN. Regarding the alleged death of peace signatories, at no time is it the policy of the ELN, even if we do not share that decision of the people, we respect it. Another thing is that some demobilized people are active and in arms again, carrying out activities under a military command, on the other hand the ELN does not have within its practices and policies to act against civilians.
There are records documenting the military operations carried out, which will be released in due course.
We have learned that the Military Forces received orders to fight the ELN head-on and support the ex-FARC in Catatumbo, in addition to coordinating operations with them. Otty Patiño participates directly in these directives, who for some time has been officiating more as a military commander than as a Peace Commissioner, since among his favorite directives is to order the discharge of members of the Central Command.
Comandante Antonio García