Threats from armed group bring Colombia's Santa Marta to standstill

BOGOTA, Sept 23 - The Colombian city of Santa Marta, a hot spot for tourists, came to a standstill on Wednesday following threats by an illegal armed group against local businesses and transportation in retaliation for Monday's killing of one of its leaders.

The paralysis of public transportation and businesses in Santa Marta, a city of about 580,000 along the country's lush Caribbean coast, continued into its second day despite President Abelardo De La Espriella’s order to militarize the city by deploying 1,100 people from the Armed Forces and the National Police.

The Conquering Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN), an illegal armed group with over 800 members, ordered the closure of businesses and transportation in retaliation for the death on Monday of 13 of its members, including one of its leaders, during an operation by the Armed Forces.

Members of the illegal armed group fired shots at businesses on Tuesday and set public transportation and cargo vehicles on fire, police reported.

The US Embassy in Bogota on Wednesday issued a security alert for Santa Marta and the surrounding areas in the state of Magdalena and neighboring La Guajira, urging people to avoid the areas of reported unrest.

De La Espriella presided over a security council meeting in Santa Marta on Tuesday night and, wearing a bulletproof vest with a pistol on his hip, patrolled some of the city’s streets, which were also monitored by military fighter jets.

The ACSN's main commander, known as Bendito Menor, was also killed in a police operation earlier in September alongside his girlfriend and two bodyguards.

The armed group is involved in the production and trafficking of cocaine from northern Colombia, as well as the extortion of businesses and companies in the transportation and tourism sectors, according to security sources.

“They are using relatively minor incidents to instill fear in society, to force businesses to close, and to keep people in a state of fear, and that is something we cannot allow,” De La Espriella said.

Despite the president’s call for people to resume their usual activities, the streets remained nearly empty on Wednesday and businesses were either closed or operating with restrictions.

“We’re afraid of possible attacks, the Army and the police aren’t enough to protect the entire city,” a local resident who concealed his face and identity told a Colombian television station.

“We condemn the violent actions, including restrictions on freedom of movement, by a non-state armed group in the city of Santa Marta and in the Caribbean region,” the United Nations Office for Human Rights in Colombia said on X.

“If they don’t submit, I’m going to send them to hell in a bag, as is appropriate and as they deserve,” De La Espriella said of the leaders of the illegal armed group. REUTERS