( Spanish) – The attack on the Puerto Jordán military base in the Colombian department of Arauca left two soldiers dead and 26 wounded, Defense Minister Iván Velásquez said.
“This is a clear demonstration by the National Liberation Army (ELN) of its true desire for peace. When we were expecting a gesture that would allow the negotiations that were being carried out with this illegal group to continue, this is the response that it has given clearly and in light of this, the actions of our military forces, the operations that our National Army continues to carry out must also be forceful,” said Velásquez.
President Gustavo Petro, for his part, visited the wounded soldiers.
The minister described the attack on the base on Tuesday morning as an “execrable” act and identified the deceased as Bayron Correa and Julián Patiño.
The Ministry of Defense published in X that “the Colombian Military Forces will act with complete force against the ELN, who with this attack demonstrate their non-existent will for peace.”
On the day of the attack, Colombian Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo said that “negotiations cannot continue amid the blood of our soldiers” and stressed that the ELN “has lost a historic opportunity to negotiate peace.”
Fernando Ramos contributed to this report.
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