Fraternal greetings to the people of Catatumbo and Northeastern Colombia.
The onslaught against Catatumbo and the application of the counterinsurgency doctrine by the Colombian State, guided by the United States, rests on three fundamental pillars for the obedient development of actions against the territory: paramilitarism, disinformation, and impunity. Weaving an alliance that operates militarily, they lie, manipulate, and cover up their actions to try to maintain a presence in the region.
Among the disinformation and media manipulation practices promoted by the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense, a strategy of fake news and staged events regarding anti-narcotics operations is being implemented, in which they seek to implicate the Northeastern War Front of the ELN.
In carrying out these fabricated media operations, they report each week on an alleged drug processing lab, which they immediately link to the ELN. Unable to prove these accusations, they resort to repeating the same lie over and over to create a sense of truth among the population. This is an old tactic employed by the Nazis in the mid-20th century. In all the news reports issued by the military, their announcements always remain mere “allegations” that are never objectively clarified.
Given the impossibility of a military defeat, the task that the US empire has entrusted to the Colombian government is to delegitimize the ELN. Thus, the President and the Minister of Defense direct the publication of fabricated stories, such as the alleged labs found in Bochalema, Bucarasica, El Zulia, Durania, and San Cayetano.
The foreign intelligence agencies, which manage and profit from this business, know perfectly well that we have no connection whatsoever with drug trafficking. However, they try to delegitimize our struggle and fabricate reasons for military intervention and the devastation of our territories. They may destroy all the cocaine processing labs, but since they don’t belong to the ELN and have nothing to do with them, the ELN will remain unaffected, as is already evident. It will all be seen as a lie repeated a thousand times.
The Northeastern War Front, Commander-in-Chief Manuel Pérez Martínez of the ELN, ratifies and reaffirms its categorical disassociation from drug trafficking. In this way, we deny any attempt to link us to drug labs, processing, or trafficking. We will continue defending our territory against the threats that seek to destroy it.
Colombia… for the workers!
Not one step back… Liberation or Death!
Northeastern War Front
Commander-in-Chief Manuel Pérez Martínez
Mountains of Northeastern Colombia
July 16, 2026