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Massive Displacements in Bolívar Point to Growing Unrest

Last Thursday (11th), over 620 people arrived in the small town of Arenal, Bolívar, fleeing their displacement by the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), according to local authorities. Arenal and the surrounding area are critical for illicit gold mining.

At that time, Mayor Ramón Sayas told local media that “they forced people to evacuate their homes, specifically in the districts of San Agustín and Santo Domingo, and in the villages of La Jungla, Sabaneta, and La Cañada. These people are in the municipality of Arenal. We are holding them in a makeshift shelter because we don’t have the capacity to provide shelter for everyone arriving, so we improvised in a [sports field], where we are providing them with initial aid.”

Residents also report that they cannot return home because of mines planted by the ELN. “I was also a victim….of the mines that were planted. Some animals I had also unfortunately [died],” said Javier Toro a local leader speaking to NoticiasRCN.

This follows earlier waves of displacement, with over a thousand displaced people arriving in Arenal from San Agustín and Santo Domingo on September 5th. On the same day, the National Army reported an operation against the ELN in nearby Santa Rosa del Sur during which they killed one alleged ELN combatant. 

Commenting on that incident, President Gustavo Petro suggested that the ELN had ordered civilians to leave their homes and stressed a strong state response.  On X, he wrote: “The ELN ordered the evacuation of the villages of San Agustín and Santo Domingo, in Arenal, Bolívar. After prior work to detect mines and traps, I ordered the Army to occupy the territory. There can be no territory off-limits, neither for the Army nor for the people of Colombia.”

In addition to the many displaced by violence, authorities estimate that 5000 more are confined to their homes, unable to go about their normal lives.

Arenal is a small town situated in the rural south-east of Bolívar, an area with massive gold reserves that has long been a rich vein for criminal economies. According to a report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Bolívar has the third highest exploitation of alluvial gold in the country, covering over 7000 hectares. 

According to interviews with residents conducted by Vorágine, criminal groups make money from the mining by extorting artisanal miners. Displacement is the threat that underlines the extortion, but it also serves as a way of directly seizing control of mines, through which groups can launder illicit proceeds.

FARC forces had held primary control over the region until their demobilization in 2016. Then, Clan del Golfo, the ELN, and FARC dissidents contested the area until tenuous boundaries were established.

Now, with the growing military power of the Clan del Golfo, multiple sources suggest that the ELN has been forced into an uneasy alliance with the FARC dissident groups, organized under the banner of the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), to protect their territory. 

The Colombian military has also stepped up its operations in the region, possibly due to political pressures over what critics dub the administration’s security failures, adding to the sense of open warfare.

The result is that innocent civilians are once again caught in the crossfire.

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