Colombia’s government is reactivating arrest orders for the top leadership of the nation’s largest rebel group.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro looks on as he is welcomed with military honors by Leslie Voltaire, president of Haiti's Transition Council, upon his arrival for an official visit where they will have a binational council of ministers, in Jacmel, Haiti January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Marckinson Pierre

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's attorney general's office on Wednesday reissued arrest warrants for leaders of the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, who had been participating in peace talks, as forced displacement caused by ELN attacks rose to 32,000 people.

Inhabitants of the Colombian town of Tibu, on the northern border with Venezuela, have fled following a wave of violence that has left at least 80 people dead in clashes between two armed groups in the last week.

Francisco de Miranda, considered to be the precursor of Venezuela’s independence, stitched the country’s first flag in Jacmel and set sail from the port city. A decade later, South American liberator Simón Bolívar launched his successful movement from Jacmel’s shores.

More than 8,000 civilians fled the violence, with many seeking shelter in government facilities or hiding in the mountains.

More than 32,000 people have fled the northern Colombian region of Catatumbo where two rival rebel groups are engaged in a bloody battle. At least 80 people have been killed over recent days amid the surge in fighting between rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

Colombia called on neighboring Venezuela Thursday to help tackle guerrillas blamed for a week of bloody violence that has displaced 40,000 people in the lawless border region.

Known as Los Llanos, this sprawling plains district harbors fascinating wildlife like the anaconda, giant anteater and jaguar.

Birthright citizenship was a profound acknowledgment that those born here, regardless of parentage or circumstance, belong here. For over 150 years, this principle has been an unshakable centerpiece of our constitutional framework, accepted across political and ideological divides.

Both the ELN and FARC-EMC have long fought for control over this drug-rich area, but recent violence marks a significant escalation.