Colombia announces $700,000 bounty for tips on ELN guerrilla leaders.

BOGOTA, Colombia — The Colombian government has declared a reward of approximately $700,000 for any information that leads to the arrest and subsequent conviction of four individuals linked to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a rebel faction involved in violent clashes with dissident guerrillas in a coke-producing region bordering Venezuela. This declaration was made via a post on the Defense Ministry’s social media channels on Saturday.

This announcement comes on the heels of President Gustavo Petro’s decision on Friday to implement a decree that grants him emergency powers. These powers will enable him to restore order in the troubled area, employing measures including curfews and other actions that could infringe upon civil rights and typically require legislative approval.

The announced bounties target Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, Eliecer Herlinto Chamorro, Gustavo Aníbal Giraldo Quinchía, and Israel Ramírez Pineda. The ongoing turmoil in the rural Catatumbo region has escalated, resulting in at least 80 fatalities and displacing around 40,000 residents within just the past ten days, as fighting between the ELN and remnants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has intensified.

Catatumbo is critical for drug trafficking operations, as well as other illegal cross-border activities. Historically, the ELN has maintained control over this region, but it has been losing ground to FARC dissidents since a significant peace agreement was signed in 2016. The region, which shares a border with Venezuela, is home to roughly 300,000 people and accounts for about 15% of Colombia’s coca production.

While the ELN and FARC-EMC factions had maintained a ceasefire recently, violence has sharply increased, attributed to ELN attacks on civilians whom they accused of collaborating with the FARC-EMC. Reports indicate that ELN members have forcibly taken people from their homes and executed them at close range.

President Petro’s administration has primarily placed blame for the violence on the ELN, with peace negotiations beginning after his inauguration in 2022. Earlier this week, orders to arrest 31 senior ELN commanders were reactivated, after being temporarily lifted in efforts to facilitate peace talks. Additionally, all dialogues with the ELN have been halted.

In response to the escalating conflict, Colombia’s military announced on Saturday that it would deploy armored vehicles to strengthen security where military encounters with the ELN occurred on Friday. The violence has also begun to spill over into Venezuela, prompting many fleeing individuals to seek refuge there.

The current location of the ELN’s peace negotiators remains uncertain. This week, the Cuban government stated that the negotiators were not present in Cuba, leading to speculation that they might be hiding in Venezuela, a country known to support Petro’s peace initiatives with the ELN.