A new wave of violence in southwestern Colombia signals a worrying spread of conflict into previously calm territories.
On September 10, a powerful explosion hit the Pacific coastal town of Timbiquí, in Cauca, damaging more than 100 homes and injuring eight marines. Just two days earlier, 12 people were killed in a massacre in the nearby town of López de Micay.
Authorities have pinned the Timbiquí attack on the Rafael Aguilera Front 30, a faction of the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC) of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) dissidents led by Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco.” The assault is believed to be retaliation for a recent military operation that resulted in the death of three dissidents and the seizure of communication equipment and weapons.
Cauca’s governor, Ovidio Guzmán, condemned the violence, stating on his X account, “Terrorist acts like today’s attack are stealing the peace from our territories. We will not relent in defending the right to life, and through inter-institutional work, we will ensure security and order in our department.”
InSight Crime Analysis
Fresh violence in Cauca’s relatively peaceful Pacific region points to an expansion of the conflict that has gripped other parts of the department.
Cauca recorded 466 violent incidents in the last year, including civilian attacks, bombings, and armed skirmishes, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Most of the incidents took place in areas to the north and east of the department, such as Argelia, El Tambo, Suárez, Santander de Quilichao, Corinto, and Morales, municipalities that form part of the strategic drug trafficking corridor in the heart of Cauca.
In contrast, the Pacific zone – including Timbiquí, Guapi, and López de Micay – had previously seen only a fraction of this violence at 14 incidents.
The coastal edge of Cauca had enjoyed relative calm since late 2022, when the Jaime Martínez and Rafael Aguilera Fronts—both factions of the EMC—drove out an alliance between the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) and the Second Marquetalia. The expulsion was part of their battle to control the region’s illegal gold mining and cocaine trafficking routes.
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But this period of “tense calm” has started to unravel in recent months as military operations ramped up against illegal mining and drug trafficking, provoking increasingly violent reactions from the armed groups.
Military action in the area, such as Operation Thunder in October 2023, which aimed to flush out armed groups from the region, had primarily focused on the Micay Canyon and sought to regain control of this strategic area from the Carlos Patiño Front of the EMC.
Military campaigns against illegal mining in rivers such as the Timbiquí and Micay also saw a marked increase. Efforts to intercept cocaine shipments moving through the region to the Pacific Ocean, destined for export by boat to Buenaventura and Central America, also ramped up. So far this year, the Pacific Naval Force has seized 173 tons of cocaine along Colombia’s Pacific coast.
Tensions escalated further after President Gustavo Petro’s government ended the ceasefire with the EMC on March 17 and subsequently halted peace negotiations. By May, 500 additional soldiers were deployed to the region, and the “Cauca Mission” was launched weeks later, focusing on restoring security in key conflict zones, including the Pacific coast, while providing institutional support and opportunities for local farmers.”
We will make this department a safe, prosperous place full of opportunities for all its inhabitants,” Defense Minister Iván Velásquez said during its launch, adding that his priority would be the Pacific region.
Feature image: A man looks at the aftermath of a bomb allegedly planted by FARC dissidents in Timbiquí, Cauca. Credit: El Colombiano