Colombia

Understand

Colombia's armed conflict is usually dated to the mid-1960s, when leftist guerrilla groups including the FARC and the ELN took up arms against the state. Over six decades it has drawn in guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug-trafficking organizations and the security forces. The 2016 peace agreement with the FARC disarmed the largest guerrilla group but did not end the violence. Dissident factions that rejected or abandoned the deal, the ELN and successor groups to the paramilitaries moved into territory and coca-growing areas the FARC left behind.

The main armed actors in 2026 are the ELN; FARC dissident blocs including the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) and the Coordinadora Nacional Ejército Bolivariano (CNEB); and the Clan del Golfo, which calls itself the Gaitanist Army of Colombia (EGC). They fight the state and one another for control of drug-trafficking routes, illegal mining and border crossings. Much of the violence is concentrated in Catatumbo on the Venezuelan border, in Cauca and Nariño in the southwest, and in Putumayo on the border with Ecuador.

President Gustavo Petro (2022-2026) pursued a policy of total peace, opening negotiations with the ELN and several other armed groups. The talks produced partial ceasefires but no comprehensive deal. On January 16, 2025, the ELN launched an offensive against the FARC dissident 33rd Front in Catatumbo, in the department of Norte de Santander. Petro suspended talks with the ELN and declared a state of internal commotion. The fighting killed scores of people and displaced tens of thousands within weeks.

Parties

• Colombia The state and its security forces, under President De la Espriella since August 2026; colors reflect the state-versus-armed-group framing, not a judgment.
• ELN Leftist guerrilla group founded in the 1960s and designated a terrorist organization by the US, strongest in Catatumbo and along the Venezuelan border.
• FARC dissidents Factions that rejected or left the 2016 peace deal, including the EMC, the CNEB and the 33rd Front in Catatumbo.
• Clan del Golfo Drug-trafficking organization that calls itself the Gaitanist Army of Colombia (EGC) and is the largest armed group by membership as of July 2026.
• United States Colombia's main security partner, which decertified it on counternarcotics in 2025 and 2026 while keeping assistance in place.

Analysis

Abelardo de la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer and political newcomer, defeated leftist senator Iván Cepeda in a runoff on June 21, 2026, and took office in Cali on August 7, 2026. He has said dialogue with armed groups is exhausted and has promised to defeat what he calls narco-terrorism. On September 9, 2026, his government revoked its negotiating delegations to the ELN and the Clan del Golfo and ordered the closure of a temporary location zone for CNEB fighters in Putumayo.

Fighting in Catatumbo has continued under the new government. The armed forces struck suspected ELN positions in San Calixto on August 12, 2026, the first airstrike of De la Espriella's term. Armed groups in the region repeatedly use commercial drones fitted with explosives against police and military posts. A car bomb at a police station in Los Patios killed one civilian on August 31, and a drone attack on a military post killed three soldiers on September 4. Armed-group membership has grown sharply since 2022, with the Clan del Golfo now the largest group.

Relations with Washington have shifted with the change of government. The United States decertified Colombia as a counternarcotics partner in September 2025, under Petro, and kept the decertification in place on September 16, 2026, while keeping assistance flowing and acknowledging the new government's pledges on coca eradication. President Donald Trump endorsed De la Espriella's candidacy, and the new government has aligned its security policy closely with Washington. The humanitarian toll remains high: individual displacement by conflict roughly doubled in 2025 compared with 2024, with Norte de Santander the worst-affected department.

What to watch

• Whether ELN attacks in Catatumbo intensify as the government shifts from talks to military pressure
• How the end of negotiations with the ELN, the Clan del Golfo and dissident factions affects violence in Cauca, Nariño and Putumayo
• Whether Colombia regains US counternarcotics certification within the coming year
• Displacement and confinement levels in Norte de Santander and the Pacific regions

Data

Parties

Colombian state; ELN; FARC dissident blocs (EMC, CNEB, 33rd Front); Clan del Golfo (EGC)

Began

1964 (FARC founded); FARC peace deal signed November 2016

Catatumbo crisis

Since January 16, 2025

Armed-group strength

FIP: 28,802 members across the main armed groups (July 2026), up from 15,120 in 2022

Displaced

ICRC: 235,619 people individually displaced by conflict in 2025

President

Abelardo de la Espriella, since August 7, 2026

Timeline

1. 1964-05The FARC guerrilla movement is founded, marking the conventional start of the armed conflict.
2. 2016-11The government and the FARC sign a revised peace agreement, leading to the group's disarmament.
3. 2025-01-16The ELN launches an offensive against FARC dissidents in Catatumbo, and President Petro suspends peace talks the next day.
4. 2025-09The United States decertifies Colombia as a counternarcotics partner for the first time since 1997.
5. 2026-06-21Abelardo de la Espriella defeats Iván Cepeda in the presidential runoff.
6. 2026-08-07De la Espriella is sworn in as president in Cali, pledging a crackdown on armed groups.
7. 2026-09-09The government revokes its negotiating delegations to the ELN and the Clan del Golfo.
8. 2026-09-16The United States keeps Colombia decertified while maintaining assistance.

Live events, aircraft and thermal anomalies for every theatre are published as GeoJSON on the data endpoints page.