20.10.2026 19:01
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered a comprehensive offensive against former FARC elements and the armed insurgent organization ELN. De la Espriella, who announced that they will target the organizations' senior leaders and financial sources, said, "These wretched narcoterrorists will see how, in the 'tiger period,' political will turns into concrete actions." Espriella, who also called on the ELN to release the public officials it holds hostage, emphasized that they will not negotiate with the organizations.
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered a comprehensive offensive against members of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which he accuses of narcoterrorism, and the armed rebel organization National Liberation Army (ELN).
Speaking at a security summit at the 18th Brigade Command in Arauca province on the Venezuelan border, de la Espriella said they would deal a major blow to FARC and ELN.
“THEY WILL SEE HOW POLITICAL WILL TURNS INTO CONCRETE ACTIONS DURING THE ‘TIGER ERA’”
De la Espriella said, “I have ordered a comprehensive offensive against ELN and FARC elements. These wretched narcoterrorists will see how political will turns into concrete actions during the ‘tiger era.’”
De la Espriella, whom his supporters call by the nickname “tiger,” stated that the main goal of the security forces is to neutralize the organization’s top leadership and cut its financial veins, and noted that operations will continue with determination until illegal groups are completely disarmed.
Calling on the ELN to release the public officials it is forcibly holding, de la Espriella said, “We will not negotiate with narcoterrorism in any way. Their only option is to hand over the hostages immediately, or we will come down on them with the full force of the law.”
“DUE TO ITS STRATEGIC LOCATION, IT HAS FOR YEARS BEEN THE SCENE OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN ILLEGAL ARMED GROUPS”
Arauca province on the Venezuelan border is among the regions where de la Espriella has decided to intensify military operations.
Due to its strategic location, Arauca has for years been the scene of conflicts between illegal armed groups.
The ELN and the FARC faction armed groups are waging a struggle for dominance in rural Arauca in order to seize control of drug and smuggling routes.
Due to clashes between the two organizations, hundreds of civilians and security personnel have lost their lives in the region in recent years. In the violence that escalated in Arauca in 2022, more than 130 people were killed, and thousands of villagers were forced to leave their homes.
VIOLENCE ESCALATED IN THE NEW GOVERNMENT’S FIRST TWO MONTHS
After President Abelardo de la Espriella took office on August 7, clashes between security forces and illegal armed groups intensified.
In more than 40 bomb and armed attacks by organizations such as dissidents of the dissolved FARC and the armed rebel organization ELN, targeting civilian infrastructure and security points, more than 20 security personnel lost their lives and many civilians were injured.
Security forces, carrying out air-supported operations and ground offensives against the attacks, neutralized more than 110 members of armed organizations.
On August 28, the de la Espriella government officially ended peace talks with 3 illegal armed groups, including the General Staff of Blocks and Fronts (EMBF) and the armed rebel organization ELN, on the grounds that they did not show sufficient will for peace.