War in Catatumbo | Who killed Miguel Ángel López and his family, ELN or the 33rd front of the FARC dissidents? Defender Iris Marín speaks

Luc Williams

Iris Marín Ortíz, Ombudsman, spoke with SEMANA’s El Debate. He did it to report on the situation in Catatumbo, in Norte de Santander, where ELN guerrillas and FARC dissidents clash and leave a toll of dead and displaced people that shocks the country. At the moment there are a hundred dead people and nearly 32,000 displaced people, although the Ombudsman’s Office warned that having a real consolidated figure is complex.

According to the Ombudsman, “it is a shame” that the actions of the ELN end up breaking the possibilities of peace and that this guerrilla, which supposedly pursued political goals, behaves with a “paramilitary” group.

Marín Ortíz reiterated that she sent early alerts to the Ministry of the Interior, the ministry with the authority to receive this type of notice, but “we could not verify commitments” beyond a formal response indicating that they received said alert.

Watch the full interview with Iris Marín Ortíz, Ombudsman:

In the framework of the interview, the defender was consulted regarding the versions according to which the current war in Catatumbo was triggered by the crime of Miguel Ángel López and his family.

According to Iris Marín Ortíz, Mr. Miguel Ángel López, along with his wife, Zulay Durán Pacheco, and their little son, nine months old, were murdered and it is one of the theses of the war between the 33rd front of the FARC and the ELN. One blames the other and this fact, in a tense dispute for territorial control, led to the exchange of fire and blood.

Miguel Ángel López, the mortician from Tibú, Norte de Santander, was murdered last Tuesday, January 14, on the road that leads to Cúcuta, while he was in the company of his wife, Zulay Durán Pacheco, and their two children, 8 years and 9 months old. Only the oldest survived.

A burst of bullets ended the lives of these three people and revealed to the country the bloody reality that is being experienced in that region these days. The first hypotheses suggest that it was the ELN that shot the family; However, that group says that it was not, that those who drew the rifles are on the side of the dissidents. While there is this ‘huddle’ of responsibilities – and the authorities are carrying out the investigations –, there is only one truth: Miguel and his family were killed for their business practice and their social activism in favor of the community. Their “sin” was trying to give holy burial to those who died in the area, regardless of who they were in favor of.

Faced with this fact, the Ombudsman pointed out: “He was a person who was in charge of funeral services that the 33rd front of the FARC dissidents associated with a certain consent of the ELN. That is the statement of the 33rd front and the ELN says that it was the dissidents.”

“This causes a lot of pain. The war is between combatants,” the Ombudsman recalled, indicating that international standards dictate that the civilian population cannot be left in the middle of the conflict. “They say that they kill people who are from another group, but it is not just combatants who are dying and in combat, stigmatized people from the civilian population are dying.. That is the context of that massacre until justice investigates. We cannot objectively define who is responsible for the massacre”, assured the Ombudsman.

Antonio García, guerrilla leader of the ELN, said in this regard that they did not go. “At no time is it ELN policy, even if we do not share that decision of the people, we respect it. Another thing is that some demobilized people are active people and in arms again, carrying out activities under military command; On the other hand, the ELN does not have within its practices and policies to act against civilians.”

“The situation of Catatumbo teaches. One also learns from failures and there is a failure. A failure of the nation“said on Tuesday the president, Gustavo Petro, who had already suspended dialogue with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla on Friday.

There, ELN guerrillas confront dissidents from the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and attack the civilian population in actions that have caused, in that region alone, nearly 100 people to die.

About LUC WILLIAMS

Luc's expertise lies in assisting students from a myriad of disciplines to refine and enhance their thesis work with clarity and impact. His methodical approach and the knack for simplifying complex information make him an invaluable ally for any thesis writer.