‘Guerrilla attack’ on energy tower in central Colombia leaves 70 oil wells without power

Campo Rubiales (Photo: Panoramio)

Attacks on an energy tower in Colombia’s central state of Meta have left 70 oil wells without power, Colombian media reported on Wednesday.

Seventy oil wells in Colombia’s Rubiales and Quifa oil fields were left without power forcing them to activate their contingency plans; however, the power service of the city closest to the incident, Puerto Gaitan, remained in normal condition, according to Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper.

The demolishing of the tower has yet to be attributed to any of the Colombian guerrilla groups, but the area where the attack occurred has been historically operated by the 39th Front of Colombia’s largest rebel group, the FARC.

Although the FARC did not claim responsibility for the attack, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Tuesday that if  the FARC continued to attack infrastructures, it could put an end to the ongoing peace talks.

MORE: ‘FARC is digging its own grave’ with attacks on infrastructure: Santos

 “That’s what we’re telling them: you continue with that, you are playing with fire and this process will end,” Santos stated.

“It’s insane. They [the FARC] themselves are digging their own political grave, because that is exactly what is being done, which the people reject more and more. What they did some days ago they attacked an aqueduct; they left populations of Meta without water. That’s an act of terrorism totally condemnable,” added the Colombian head of state.

MORE: ‘FARC attack’ on aqueduct leaves 2 Colombia towns without water

Recently, FARC guerrillas allegedly attacked an aqueduct also in the state of Meta, leaving two Colombia towns and approximately 16,000 people without drinkable water.

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