Three day “armed strikes” to commemorate Columbia’s National Liberation Army

World Today

Three day "armed strikes" to commemorate Columbia's National Liberation Army

July 4th marks the 50th anniversary of Colombia’s second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army. To commemorate the occasion, the guerrilla group has declared three days of “armed strikes” beginning Thursday. CCTV’s Michelle Begue reports from Bogota.

From July 3rd to July 6th, the guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army, declared it would conduct armed strikes throughout five northeastern Colombian provinces. According to a press release, the ELN warned it would attack businesses, roads and transportation services to mark the organization’s founding 50 years ago and what its commander called “barbarism of capitalism.”

Former member Carlos Arturo Velandia says there is another message behind the commemoration: a warning to the government. The Colombian Ministry of Defense denounced the move, and officials from the ombudsman office called for a ceasefire.

Even before the pledge to launch attacks by the Marxist-Leninist rebel group, the Colombian government was involved in exploratory peace talks.