Colombia launches joint task force to protect pipeline and fight ELN rebels

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president launched a joint task force Monday that will fight rebel groups and drug gangs in the country’s northeast, as the government changes its strategy in dealing with criminal groups, replacing peace talks with various military offensives.

President Abelardo de la Espriella said one of the main missions of the newly designated task force Urano will be to stop Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army, from stealing gasoline and diesel from a pipeline that runs from the country’s Caribbean coast to a refinery in Barrancabermeja.

De la Espriella accused the group, known also as the ELN, of stealing fuel from the pipeline to “feed” criminal economies.

“They use it to make cocaine, to power illegal mines and to generate income for terrorist activities,” he said Monday at a ceremony in Valledupar.

For almost two decades, Colombia’s military deployed joint task forces — with troops from the army, the navy and the air force — to fight rebel groups in rural areas. The task forces were overseen directly by commanders in Bogota and helped the military achieve key victories against the FARC rebels until a peace deal was signed with that group in 2016.

The strategy was dropped two years ago by former President Gustavo Petro’s administration, as officials tried to give army commanders in rural areas greater control over operations. Some critics said the decision weakened Colombia’s military.

De la Espriella, a conservative who was sworn into office in August, has canceled peace talks with the nation’s remaining rebel groups.

He said that by bringing back the joint task forces, the government will be able to confront rebel groups and drug gangs with greater force. He added that the Urano task force will also include police officers.

“There will be no negotiations or empathy with terrorism,” he said.