Colombia’s second largest rebel group, the ELN, has released a video in which heavily armed guerrillas are seen patrolling neighborhoods in the periphery of Medellin.
PROFILE: ELN
The video shows 10 heavily armed guerrillas walking around in an undisclosed neighborhood in Medellin. The men and women are masked, some wearing ELN logos on their sleeves. The rebels were filmed putting up flags and spraying “ELN” on walls.
The video was posted on Youtube on August 30 and later promoted by the ELN’s radio station on Twitter.
The video was allegedly made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the rebel group.
ELN is Colombia’s second largest rebel group right after the FARC with some following among extremist students in Medellin public universities. In the beginning of this century, the group used to control several neighborhoods across Medellin. However, a military offensive carried out by state and paramilitary forces between 2001 and 2002 forced the rebels to flee the city and leave their neighborhood to local militias and forces belonging to paramilitary umbrella group AUC.
The rebels are currently in the preliminary stages of peace talks with the government after having fought the state for half a decade. President Juan Manuel Santos announced the ELN peace talks during days before the presidential elections in June, but has since barely talked about it.
On Monday, the president announced that the process of the negotiations with ELN will remain confidential until there is something concrete to announce.
MORE: Absolute secrecy on negotiations with ELN rebels for now: Santos
