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CEC
Tibú (Agenzia Fides) - In less than a week, violent clashes between members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident groups of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the Catatumbo region, in northeastern Colombia on the border with Venezuela, have left a hundred dead and thousands displaced. It is the worst wave of violence in recent times.
The Bishop of Tibú, Israel Bravo Cortés (see Fides, 14/6/2024), called on those who are fueling armed violence to "come to their senses and understand that killing each other and shedding even more blood in a territory that has always been stained with the blood of innocent men and women is not the right way". "We must understand that this is not the right way," the prelate appealed in a recent appeal.
Bishop Bravo explained that the reason for the current clashes is "the differences between the two revolutionary forces in the region and the banned gangs that are at war with the Colombian state."
In addition, the Bishop of Tibú stressed, "the situation is worsening with regard to the problem of the coca paste they produce and the control of the territory. One of the triggers was the death of a father, a mother and their eight-month-old son."
"Respect life and stop the massacre," said the country's bishops. "What is happening here is a clear violation of international humanitarian law," said a statement from the Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC), referring to the displacement caused by the violence. "The guerrillas are directly attacking the civilian population; peasants, indigenous people and people of African descent are the main victims of the conflict, not only in Catatumbo, but in various parts of Colombia. The violence leaves a trail of pain, fear and despair in the communities.”
The diocese of Tibú has made some rooms of the Seminary and the “Pope Francis Center” - created a few years ago to support Venezuelan migrants - available to receive displaced people from various villages fleeing armed violence. Meanwhile, some Colombian migrants have also found refuge in Venezuelan communities. Bishop Bravo fears that the serious consequences of these clashes will lead to “a mass displacement of children, desperate families, people leaving the area towards the city of Cúcuta, as well as great losses due to the abandonment of farms with livestock, houses that no one cares for anymore and a great climate of devastation and fear.”
"We are here, pilgrims of hope to meet Jesus Christ, alongside the victims of violence and armed conflict," said the Bishop of Tibù, confident that this period of the Catholic Church's Jubilee will help keep alive the hope of a better future for the territories of Catatumbo.
"It is urgent to fight lawlessness and armed groups with strategies that prioritize human rights and the prevention of violence, and in particular to implement the peace agreements signed," the Bishops concluded.
At the end of the Angelus on Sunday 26 January, Pope Francis also expressed concern about the situation in Colombia, especially in the Catatumbo region, "where the clashes between armed groups have caused many civilian casualties and more than thirty thousand displaced people". "I express my solidarity and prayers for them," added the Bishop of Rome. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 29/1/2025)
