The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office reported that Camila Botero, alias Lucidó, was sentenced to six years and six months in prison for financing the Primera Línea group, the protagonist of the June 2022 protests against the government of Iván Duque. Human Rights Watch warns that recent clashes between the ELN and FARC dissidents keep 260 families “confined” near the border with Venezuela
The acting deputy director for the Americas of Human Rights Watch, john pappierreported on his Twitter account, this Wednesday, January 18, that in the area of Arauca and Arauquita, on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, there are five rural areas (veredas) “confined by clashes between ELN and dissidents” of the FARC. The portal of the National Liberation Army confirms that they sustained strong combats.
According to Colombia Radio There are 10 villages confined as a result of guerrilla violence.
“On January 9 and 10, fighting took place in the area known as Marrero, Vereda Lejanías de Puerto Rondón, Arauca, where 12 members of Antonio Medina’s gang were killed, another 4 were wounded and taken prisoner (…) In the guerrilla units of the Eastern War Front (FGO) left one comrade dead and 5 slightly injured,” reports the ELN, which abounds in “war material” seized from FARC dissidents.
The ELN insists that the dissidents “established coca export corridors, brought the gang Aragua Train, for which they entered into a confrontation with the Armed Forces of Venezuela.” According to Insight Crime the ELN’s anti-drug discourses “have become increasingly difficult to sustain”.
Regarding the consequences of the fighting, the HRW representative indicated that there are 230 families affected in eastern Colombiafor which it requests “urgent” support from the Colombian Ministry of the Interior.
The confined areas are in El Progreso, Normandía, El Paisaje, El Ripial and La Esmeralda, the latter at less than 50 kilometers Guasdualito, in the Apure state on the Venezuelan side.
The wave of violence continues to affect Arauca.
In the last hours there were disputes between the dissidents of the FARC and the ELN in Arauca. We talked with the Sen. @ArielAnaliza, @JairoSenador50 Y @honohenriquez who gave their point of view of the causes and consequences pic.twitter.com/mljllsv52U
– Colombia Congress Channel (@CCongresoCol) January 12, 2023
To jail for financing Primera Línea
Also today, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office reported the sentence to six years and six months in prison for the leader Camila Botero (alias Lucía, Jimena, Camila or Lucidó), member of the Ernesto Guevara Front of the ELNwhich arranged contributions of $23 million for the Primera Línea group to finance the group’s participation in the protests in Cali, Pereira and Medellín, in June 2022when the term of President Gustavo Duque was about to expire.
“In the investigation, several messages addressed to alias Fabián, head of the Western War Front of the ELN, were revealed, in which this woman, in addition to financial support, also requested logistical support and training for the First Line, between May and June 2021. “, reported the Prosecutor’s Office.
ELN again in Caracas
According to the EFE news agency, the negotiations between the ELN and a delegation from the government of Gustavo Petro, resumed in Caracas on the afternoon of this Tuesday, January 17, confirmed sources linked to the process. The matches are expected to last through the weekend.
The agenda for this meeting is private, although it is known that the delegations met this week in Caracas to improve the climate for the second cycle of talks, initially scheduled for February and to take place in Mexico, adds the agency report. .
The Colombian ambassador in Caracas, Armando Benedetti, had announced that they were resuming the talks in Venezuela, where the government of Nicolás Maduro acts as guarantor.
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