NewsLatin AmericaOne dead and six injured in clashes between the Army and the ELN in eastern Colombia

One dead and six injured in clashes between the Army and the ELN in eastern Colombia

Archive – A soldier next to a helicopter in Colombia – ARMY OF COLOMBIA – Archive

At least one soldier has died and six more have been injured in clashes with guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN) in the municipality of Tame, in the Colombian department of Arauca, in the east of the country.

The fighting broke out on Friday and lasted about an hour. A professional soldier died while being evacuated from the area by helicopter, according to the Caracol Radio station.

Three other soldiers, a non-commissioned officer, and a geographic navigator from the Army were injured and taken to the Saravena hospital. There would also be a wounded guerrilla who was treated by Army combat medics and taken to a medical center.

In the next few hours, the authorities will give more details about this military operation called ‘Samuel’ and directed against the ELN guerrillas.

On the other hand, the Metropolitan Police of Bogota has reported that the headquarters of an Immediate Attention Command (CAI) of the Police in Santa Librada has been attacked and set on fire. The place was attacked with Molotov cocktails by hooded protesters in the area.

Meanwhile, the commander of the ELN, Eliecer Herlinto Chamorro, alias ‘Antonio Garcia’, has responded to the total peace proposal of the Government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and has warned that “wars are necessary.”

“Total peace has two meanings, two ways of seeing it: one that can be the absence of conflicts in a society, and that is wrong, every society is going to have conflicts because there are always going to be differences, contradictions, life itself presents situations that they do not see each other in the same way, so social collectivities will always look for ways to resolve; then, the conflict is a response to impositions”, he argued.

Faced with this scenario, the guerrilla leader has warned that “we cannot enter that same sack.” “Yes we are going to dialogue, yes we are going to talk, then, we are not very much of the idea of ​​​​saying that we are going to make a Total Peace, no. In addition, wars are necessary, when there are processes of domination in a society, when there is imposition and that is accepted, it is mandated in International Law, that is, the right to rebel,” he recalled.

Regarding the resumption of the negotiations, the ELN chief has indicated that “for the moment the most important thing is to do what the previous government did not do, comply with some protocols for the return of our delegation in security, given that there was a commitment from the Colombian State, signed in front of other countries, that once there was a break in the dialogues, the delegation should return”.

“We hope that we give continuity to what we worked on in previous periods, we lost four years, now we will try to resume,” he noted.

Source: Europa Press

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Posts

Read More
More