The violence that is currently shaking the Catatumbo region in northeastern Colombia has forced some 20,000 people to leave their homes and seek refuge in other cities in the country and even in Venezuela.

According to statements by the chief of staff of the National Army, Brigadier General Erick Rodriguez, up to yesterday afternoon some 19,800 people were in shelters or in places designated to give them shelter by the mayor’s offices and the governor’s office of Norte de Santander.

Due to clashes since last Thursday between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Structure 33, a residual group of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces-People’s Army, the civilian population was forced to move to the municipal capitals of Cúcuta, Ocaña and Tibú, mainly.

Rodríguez added that the army helped evacuate 320 people by air, many of them social leaders and peace signatories living in the conflict territory.

In order to alleviate the basic needs of displaced families, the Colombian Victims Unit sent 28 tonnes of aid with food kits, hygiene kits, mattresses, sheets, shoes, clothes and blankets.

On the other hand, the Ombudsman, Irín Marín, reported that it has not yet been possible to extract all the fatal victims from the sites where their bodies are found.

She revealed that the information provided by the communities gives indications to estimate between 80 and 90 people dead.

In addition, more than 400 men from the National Army are reinforcing the force in the urban and rural areas of the region, according to the Minister of Defence, Iván Velásquez.

He assured that, since the beginning of the crisis, the security forces have worked to protect the confined population and have intensified their presence in the municipal centres.

Given the deterioration of the situation in Catatumbo, Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared a state of internal commotion and economic emergency for the region.

According to the Colombian Constitution, such a state is a mechanism used in the event of a serious disturbance of public order that imminently threatens institutional stability.

For the duration of the state of emergency, the government will have the powers strictly necessary to overcome the causes of the disturbance and prevent the extension of its effects, according to the Constitution.

Following the crisis in Catatumbo, the president also suspended his government’s negotiations with the National Liberation Army.