At least 10 members of Colombia’s National Liberation Army, including two key leaders, were killed during a military operation in the country’s Pacific region, President Abelardo de la Espriella announced Sunday.
The military assault unfolded Thursday in a rural sector of El Tambo within the Cauca department. De la Espriella identified two of the deceased insurgents as individuals known by the aliases “Marcos Pacífico” and “Ochenta”—also referred to as “Murillo”—who were senior leaders inside the “José María Becerra” bloc of the group’s southwestern front.
Command Structure Disrupted in Pacific Region
De la Espriella noted that the casualties directly disrupt the insurgency’s chain of command and its ability to direct criminal activities across Cauca, Valle del Cauca, and Nariño departments.
The president attributed a 24-year violent record to “Marcos Pacífico,” accusing the leader of responsibility for killing 62 people, the forced recruitment of minors, and the displacement of some 500 residents. The administration further alleged that the slain leader masterminded “the illegal unrest that fueled urban terrorism in 2019 and 2021.”
🇺🇸🇨🇴 President Abelardo De La Espriella authorized a pre-dawn airstrike against ELN narcoterrorist camps in Cauca, Colombia.The operation, ordered at 1 a.m., struck structures of the ELN’s Western War Front. Colombian forces later reported nine ELN members killed, including the… https://t.co/6rQkiUdsBZ pic.twitter.com/5rwPyUXuxG
While characterizing the El Tambo operation as a “decisive” blow, the administration conceded that the tactical offensive does not end the threat posed by the organization, which has been armed since 1964 and could potentially regroup.
Hard-Line Security Policy Replaces Prior Negotiations
The operation occurs against a backdrop of intensifying state pressure against the insurgency’s top hierarchy. The Colombian judiciary recently secured in absentia prison sentences ranging from 11 to 20 years against the group’s top leaders for the forced recruitment of at least 60 minors. Arrest warrants remain active for figures including Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, known as “Gabino,” who served as the guerrilla group’s top commander from 1998 until 2021; current top commander Eliécer Herlindo Chamorro Acosta, alias “Antonio García”; second-in-command Israel Ramírez Pineda, alias “Pablo Beltrán”; and Gustavo Aníbal Giraldo Quinchía, alias “Pablito,” third in the chain of command.
The military escalation follows a major shift in national security strategy under the conservative de la Espriella administration, which assumed office on August 7. Shortly after taking power, the president formally terminated the peace negotiation talks initiated by his predecessor, Gustavo Petro, pledging to take a “hard-line” approach against the remaining insurgent factions.
