The Colombian president agreed to a proposal made weeks ago by the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla, which denies accusations of ties to drug trafficking. Under this initiative, an international commission "scientific and independent of governments," according to Petro, must direct the investigation and deliver its results to the United Nations.
First modification: 02/16/2026 - 02:52
An independent commission to investigate accusations of links between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and drug trafficking. That was the guerrilla's own proposal weeks ago, which was accepted this Sunday, February 15, by Colombian president Gustavo Petro.
In a message published on his
The Colombian president also urged the rebels to "begin now the massive process of voluntary coca leaf eradication" in the northeastern region of Catatumbo in favor of a crop substitution that "will be strongly supported financially by the government" and that will reach the local peasantry "without ideological difference."
To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies.
The proposal to which Petro responded was presented in a video published on January 20 by García. In it, the head of the ELN stated that, although the rebels impose a tax on cocaine traffickers, they do not control drug trafficking routes or laboratories.
"The ELN has no relationship with drug trafficking," García declared, urging the government to allow an independent commission to verify the group's claims.
"Drug traffickers disguised as guerrillas"
The president of Colombia has repeatedly accused the armed group of profiting from drug trafficking, going so far as to describe its leaders as "drug traffickers disguised as guerrillas."
The ELN's alleged relationship with drug trafficking was one of the obstacles to the advancement of peace talks during the first two years of Petro's government.
Talks between the two sides finally failed last year after the ELN launched an offensive in Catatumbo, in which dozens of people were killed and more than 50,000 were forced to flee their homes.
In January, the guerrilla – founded in the early 1960s and with approximately 5,000 combatants in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela – expressed its desire to collaborate with the government to reach a "national agreement" that would allow negotiations to resume.
But Petro made any dialogue subject to the group abandoning drug trafficking. And in a phone call with US President Donald Trump, Colombian officials said, the possibility of carrying out attacks against the ELN with the support of the US Army was discussed.
The ELN's control over rural communities along Colombia's border with Venezuela has intensified in recent years, filling the power vacuum left by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the armed group that dissolved in 2017 after signing a peace agreement with the Colombian government.
An ELN leader falls in Arauca
Petro's message in For this reason, in his publication, the Colombian president insisted that "the ELN must understand that the path to peace consists of the group's disconnection from drug trafficking."
In the operation, coordinated between the Police, the Army and the Attorney General's Office of Colombia, alias 'Monchi' was arrested, whom the authorities define as "the second ringleader and alleged main financial driver of the criminal structure Camilo Cienfuegos of the ELN" in the aforementioned Colombian region.
According to the official statement, 'Monchi' "would be responsible for coordinating extortion activities against contractors, ranchers, merchants, transporters and the civilian population in the municipalities of Arauca and Arauquita, with the purpose of financing terrorist actions directed against the Public Force and the department's infrastructure."
Along with him, security forces reported the arrests of alias 'Calilla', alias 'Perro' and alias 'Zancudo', suspected of providing "logistical and criminal" support. The operation, they detailed, was carried out simultaneously in the villages of La Laguna and La Pesquera, as well as in the urban area of the municipality of Arauquita.
"This result protects the ranchers, merchants, transporters and the civilian population of Arauquita and Arauca, and affects the structures of front men and pseudo-political infiltration with which this organization intended to exploit the communities," said Colonel Carlos Angarita Antolinez, commander of the Arauca Police Department.
With AP and local media
Related keywords
The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.
