Security update
October 11: a bombing in Catatumbo, and a soldier and a police officer killed
Here's what happened since the last update, and what each one means.
1A bombing against the Front 33 in Catatumbo
At about 1 AM on Sunday, October 11, Kfir and Super Tucano aircraft of the Air Force bombed a camp of the Front 33 (Frente 33), part of alias "Calarcá's" FARC dissidents, on the line between Tibú and El Tarra in Catatumbo. Intelligence put more than 20 members in the camp. First reports put the dead at 3 (El Tiempo) or 4 bodies recovered (El Heraldo). Troops are struggling to reach the site because of minefields and explosive drones. El Tiempo reports the target was Carlos Eduardo García Téllez, alias "Andrey Avendaño", the front's leader. The president named him in Cúcuta before taking office. It isn't known yet if he was there. At 12:28 PM, the president wrote: "Last night, while many Colombians were resting, I directly gave the order to carry out a bombing operation in Norte de Santander against a military target known as Front 33." This is the 4th bombing of his government and the 2nd in Catatumbo. El Tiempo reports the 3 before it left more than 40 dead, including 6 minors. It came after a Bogotá family court lifted the order that had paused the bombings.
What it meansThe bombings are back after the court pause, and this one went after a leader the president named himself. He promised a report on the results during the day. As of 8 PM, he hadn't posted it.
2A soldier and a police officer killed
On the night of Saturday, October 10, professional soldier Luis David Arrieta Osorio, of Mountain Battalion No. 4, was killed by explosives dropped from a drone in Altamira, La Vega, Cauca. The army blames the ELN, preliminarily. On October 11, Patrolman Diego Andrés Sanabria Romero, of the La Marina police substation, was killed in an armed attack in rural Tuluá, Valle del Cauca. Another officer was wounded, and one attacker was killed. The police preliminarily blame the Front 57 of the FARC dissidents. "The National Police categorically rejects the killing of our patrolman," the police said.
What it meansThe drone attacks keep killing soldiers. Our October 10 update reported a record 176 drone attacks this year to October 1.
3Fighting in Cajibío and Toribío, Cauca
From early Sunday, the army's Brigade 29 fought the Jaime Martínez dissidents in vereda El Dinde, Cajibío. At 7:41 PM, the president said 2 of them were killed in El Dinde, and that troops seized weapons, a mortar, grenades and a drone, and found a lab with 105 kilos of coca base. The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) reports fighting from before 5 AM in 5 veredas of Toribío, with an attack on the army base on Berlín hill, explosive drones, and Air Force aircraft it says fired indiscriminately. It says residents were caught in the crossfire. The army hasn't answered that claim in what we read.
What it meansThe CRIC demands that "the legal and illegal armed groups" stop the fighting. It's accusing the Air Force, not only the dissidents, and the army will have to answer that.
42 prison guards shot in Barranquilla
On the night of Saturday, October 10, 2 men on a motorcycle shot Inpec guards Shirly Dallana Acosta Marroquín and Daniel Steven Tapiero Alférez as they rode home after their shift at El Bosque prison. Both are in the hospital; Infobae reports them seriously wounded but stable. On October 5, shots were fired at the front of the Modelo prison in Barranquilla. The Justice Ministry says threats against the president, the minister, the Inpec director and the guards are circulating over the recent transfers of inmates. A prison workers' group warns of a message from a group calling itself "Fuerzas Unidas de los Presos" announcing attacks on transfer buses. At 1:43 PM, the president wrote: "The transfers will continue. Today, more than ever, and with total determination."
What it meansThe government ties the threats to the transfers of inmates, and says the transfers go on. The guards who carry them out are the ones being threatened.
5A drone shuts down Medellín's airport
At 8:47 PM on Saturday, October 10, an Air Europa jet climbing out of José María Córdova airport in Rionegro crossed a drone at about 12,000 feet. The tower suspended traffic at 8:50 PM, and several flights were sent to Bogotá. Antioquia's governor, Andrés Julián Rendón, says the Air Force's anti-drone system jammed it and brought it down. Who flew it is under investigation. No armed group has been linked to it.
What it means for usIf you fly in or out of Rionegro, a drone can close the airport and send your flight to Bogotá. Check your flight status before you leave home.
64 Gulf Clan members arrested for the killing of 2 police officers
The president says 4 members of the Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo) were arrested in Santa Fe de Antioquia and Betulia, including alias "Caliche", whom he calls a hitmen coordinator. He says they took part in the attack in Betulia that killed police subintendentes Wilmer Ovidio Gallego Sepúlveda and Edwin Danilo Chamorro Bastida.
What it meansArrests for the killing of police officers are the ones that count. The courts now have to prove they did it.
On social media
His bombing post drew 119,000 views, 6,800 likes and 299 replies. The replies back him, and some of the most-liked mock the left: "Watch out, because Cepeda must be crying for his friends who were killed and organizing a march to stop the operations against the guerrillas." (38 likes) Another: "God bless you, Mr. President," with a picture that reads "We voted so fear would change sides. Let the terrorist be afraid, not the citizen." (47 likes) The critical voice: "But they keep attacking with drones, in Cauca they killed a soldier with that. What happened with the MQ Reapers, did they arrive broken down, or haven't they arrived yet?" His post on the prison guards drew 51,000 views and 3,700 likes. One of its top replies turned on the prison service itself: "My President, you promised to dismantle that criminal gang called INPEC and replace it with retired military." (7 likes) As of 8 PM, he hadn't posted the bombing results he promised, or anything about the soldier killed in La Vega or the police officer killed in Tuluá. This comes from the top replies on X, not a poll.
I support most of this. But it doesn't go far enough. These groups use any space they're given to reset and grow. They need to be crushed, not contained.