"We're going to probably stop buying oil from Venezuela.

That'll change Venezuela quite a bit"

What happened in Catatumbo is just one more demonstration of the transition from insurgent guerrillas to narco-armed organizations.

The massacre committed by the ELN with forces brought from Arauca to Catatumbo perfectly mimics the actions of the paramilitary groups when, led by Mancuso, they arrived in the area:
massacre of defenseless civilian peasants. War crimes everywhere that are crimes against humanity.

As I announced before, the ELN moved away from the theory of "effective love" of its founder, the priest Camilo Torres Restrepo, whose cassock I still keep, and moved towards the ways of Pablo Escobar, whom they chose as their permanent guide.

It is the transition that every human being makes when his heart is overcome by greed, or, as José Eustasio Rivera said, by violence.

I met many ELN militants when I was in prison or when I was in my nights of love and war; I always admired their principles, their revolutionary dedication, I think that the ELN is dead. It also died among the peasants of Catatumbo, it was murdered by the current ELN mafia.

It is up to the current army, the army of the constitution, to save and protect the population of Catatumbo from the ELN, its murderer.

The ELN has chosen the path of war and war will come. We, the government, are on the side of the people.

Anyone who still keeps his heart firmly on the side of "effective love" will be heard.

Anyone who has let his heart be won by greed will be confronted.

To the people, much organization and firmness, the weapons of the nation are at their side.