Violence in Colombia

The flight has changed direction: From Colombia to Venezuela

Colombians from the troubled Catatumbo region are fleeing across the border to Venezuela, several media outlets report. For many years, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have crossed the border in the other direction, fleeing political persecution and economic crisis.

Venezuela has promised humanitarian aid to the refugees, according to the Spanish El País. But while Venezuela has hosted the now-interrupted peace talks between the ELN and the Colombian government, the country has allowed the guerrillas to grow strong in the border region, writes BBC Mundo. This at a time when relations between the two countries are historically bad after Colombia refused to recognize Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidential election this summer.

“The further Colombia is from good relations with Venezuela, the closer Venezuela and the ELN are to each other,” writes BBC Mundo.

Colombia at the UN: Accuses the guerrillas of war crimes

Colombia accuses several guerrilla groups of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This was stated by the country's Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo at an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, El Espectador reports.

The UN stands as guarantor of the peace agreement that was signed between the government and the FARC guerrillas in 2016. Now, breakaway groups from the FARC are fighting the ELN guerrillas for control of the cocaine trade in the border region with Venezuela. Both groups are accused of murder, kidnapping and the displacement of civilians – 30,000 are on the run.

- These are attacks on peace itself, says Murillo according to La Silla Vacía.

Of the 80 civilians murdered in the Catatumbo region, six are former FARC members who were involved in signing the peace agreement, according to the country's Ombudsman.