SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Fierce clashes between two guerrilla groups in the northwestern region of Catatumbo, Colombia, on Jan. 16 have not only resulted in at least 80 people dead, but also generated a broad humanitarian crisis, with thousands of displaced residents and lack of food supplies.
Since then, Bishop Israel Bravo Cortés of Tibú, one of the cities at the epicenter of the violence, has been leading his diocese to offer as much help to the local communities as possible.
The new cycle of hostilities involves a dissidence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which had been formally involved in a peace dialogue with the government over the past two years but failed to engage in more effective actions, thus interrupting the process.
