Photo: Marcos Knoblauch
At this point of tense calm in Colombia we ask that you join us in praying that the steep growth and expansion the ELN guerilla group had after the Peace Agreements in 2016 won’t increase due to the new FARC-EP dissidents.
We pray that the alliances the FARC-EP and ELN guerrillas aim to create (1) won’t impact the accompanied communities, especially considering the territory is a strategic area for drug trafficking, oil traffic across the border and vast areas of thick forest full of mining and productive wealth;
We pray that the South of Bolívar region, where the FARC-EP and ELN guerrillas are present, will not suffer from the increasing violence.
We pray that the ex-combatants living and working in the Training and Reincorporation Territorial Spaces (centers created by the Peace Agreements) who are going through a process of reincorporation into civilian life remain steadfast, abide by the peace process and the transitional justice mechanisms;
We pray for over 10,000 ex-combatants (2) of the FARC-EP guerrilla who gave up their weapons to continue the reincorporation process in spite of the setbacks there have been during the implementation of the transitional justice mechanisms;
We pray that the regional elections coming up will not perpetuate the political violence that affects communities nationally and so that people can vote freely and in peace.
On August 29th a new guerrilla group in Colombia announced its creation. High commanders of the former FARC-EP guerrilla are part of this group. Nowadays, dissidents represent approximately 25% of what the FARC-EP guerrilla was before the signing of the Peace Agreements, with almost 2,200 combatants (3) distributed in 23 groups.
(1) Portafolio, Líder del ELN abierto a alianzas con disidencias de las FARC, Disponible en: https://www.portafolio.co/tendencias/lider-del-eln-abierto-a-alianza-con-disidencias-de-las-farc-533057.
(2) Agencia para la Reincorporación y la Normalización (ARN), ARN en Cifras, Disponible en: https://www.reincorporacion.gov.co/es/agencia/Documentos%20de%20ARN%20en%20Cifras/ARN%20en%20cifras%20corte%20Julio%202019.pdf.
(3) Fundación Paz y Reconciliación, Cifras y Datos de la Nueva Guerrilla en Colombia, Disponible en: https://pares.com.co/2019/08/29/cifras-y-datos-de-la-nueva-guerrilla-en-colombia/.
