Amid violent clashes, Colombian church crucial in assisting devastated Catatumbo communities

SÃO PAULO (OSV News) -- The armed confrontation between two guerrilla organizations in Catatumbo, a region in the northern part of Colombia, has caused at least 80 deaths and the displacement of 48,000 residents since Jan. 16.

The Colombian church has taken several actions to reduce the number of fatal victims, rebuild peace, and minimize hunger.

The major guerrilla group still active in the South American nation, the National Liberation Army, known by the Spanish acronym ELN, clashed with a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which signed a peace deal with the state in 2016. Among the people killed were a few FARC members who had signed the treaty with the government back then.

"Catatumbo is located on the border with Venezuela. It has been historically affected by the production of substances of illicit use (especially coca leaves) and by the presence of numerous armed groups," Father Hector Henao, who has been representing the church in the mediation of negotiations between guerrillas and the government for more than three decades, told OSV News.

Father Henao had been taking part in the official peace dialogue between President Gustavo Petro's administration and the ELN over the past couple of years. The unprecedented negotiation, which included a long-lasting ceasefire, ended up being interrupted in 2024 with signals of irrecuperable failure. The organization's attack in Catatumbo was seen by analysts as an act that made any further attempt at negotiating now impossible.

In Father Henao's opinion, the guerrillas are disputing control over the territory, which is not only rich in coca, but also in precious metals.

"The church is calling for the respect of humanitarian principles. The ways leading to isolated communities must be immediately cleared, so people can have access to food and water. The government must resume its development plan for that zone," he said.

Father Henao said that the number of displaced people in the current crisis is one of the highest in Colombian's recent history.

According to Father Jairo Gélvez Tarazona of the Diocese of Tibú, who headed the local Cáritas for 12 years until last December, many among the displaced people were workers of the coca fields and peasants, who had been drawn by the large earnings of coca production.

"They went back to Venezuela, to Cucuta (on the border) or to other Colombian regions. As the intensity of the conflict is going down, some of them are starting to come back," Father Tarazona said.

There's a growing tension in the area now, given that the FARC dissidence affirmed it will not give up a square foot of land and the government is probably preparing to attack the ELN, the priest added.

"Dead people continue to appear every day," he said.

The region's 20 parishes have been totally mobilized to work for the residents' needs. Food kits have been distributed every day among the neediest in the impacted communities. People who were captured by the armed groups have been released on the church's request. The cry for peace of the Catholics in the whole region continues to be heard.

Father Tarazona's community, called Pacelli, has been an example of how local mobilizations can change the concrete reality of violence. Although many of its residents still work on the production of coca, the community conceived a plan to get rid of it and prioritize other products, like growing cocoa and running fish farms.

The community also organized to keep warfare out. Its leaders decided to close its main inroads to armed groups that want to operate there. They're not allowed to recruit the local youth.

"If anything happens, the bell is rung and immediately 1,500 residents emerge to defend themselves without guns, only with their presence," Father Tarazona described.

On Jan. 26, a large march for peace and life was promoted in Pacelli, with the attendance of almost every community member.

"Only one death was reported here in the rural area as part of the current confrontation, but it hasn't been confirmed till now," the priest declared.

Pacelli needs support both from the government and from international organizations in order to qualify workers and receive the necessary investments for the establishment of up-to-date production methods. That's the best chance that like Pacelli, other communities in Tibú's area leave coca behind and produce other profitable items, the priest affirmed.

The government has a plan to replace illicit productions, but in areas like Catatumbo not much progress has been seen.

"People have been donating food, mattresses, and hygiene kits. But what we need is to really transform the economy and generate income," Father Tarazona concluded.