By Andrés Osorio Guillot, EL ESPECTADOR, December 26, 2025
From Subscriber Newsletter 12/26/25
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
Today let’s talk about the analysis presented by the Colombian Army of its operations in 2025, a year with many lamentable episodes because of the violence that once more is gaining ground in some parts of this country.
A historic number of seizures, thousands of captures, and a war that just won’t quit. That’s how the Colombian Army summarizes its analysis of 2025 operations in a year marked by the resurgence of the armed conflict, the expansion of the illegal economies, and a complicated political and security conjuncture that resulted in being the administration’s Achilles heel.
An uphill year
2025 began—and unfortunately ended as well—with an intensification of the violence in regions like Catatumbo, southern Cauca, and southern Bolívar. Added to that were terrorist attacks, decertification by the United States, the inclusion of President Gustavo Petro in the Clinton list, and the deaths in action of 96 soldiers.
In that setting, the Army deployed operations in critical areas where the ELN, FARC Dissidents, Clan del Golfo, and other armed organizations were present and once again were gaining power in this country.
Catatumbo and other lines of battle heating up
In Catatumbo, one of the regions suffering the most humanitarian damage this year, Army operations combined offensive actions, stabilization and attention to the civilian population, evacuations, attention to people that had been displaced, and bringing help. All of this because those first months may be remembered with an upscale of violence that was being difficult to calm down.
One of the most recent and most serious events took place just this December 24 when two women in the rural part of Tibú were injured by an explosive launched by a drone, and another was injured by a land mine.
Meanwhile, in southern Cauca, the Army clashed with the Carlos Patiño Front of the “Iván Mordisco” Dissidents; in Nariño it attacked strategic points of territorial control; and in the south of Bolívar, it strengthened military presence in the face of the dispute between the ELN and the Clan del Golfo for the control of the gold mines.
In that region, the combat resulted in the displacement and confinement of more than 5,000 people in Santa Rosa del Sur and Montecristo. According to military intelligence, at least 500 tons of legal and illegal gold are produced there every year, which is fueling the war in this country.
Captures and seizures: unprecedented statistics
The operative analysis presented by the Colombian Army includes statistics like the following:
3,409 captures
682 submissions to the legal system
60 voluntary presentations
402 child soldiers recovered
Regarding weaponry, they reported the most weapons decommissioned in this decade:
916 long guns
2,320 handguns
More than 738,000 pieces of ammunition
Nearly 6,000 land mines neutralized
Drug trafficking and illegal mining
In a key year for anti-drug policy, and in spite of what they say up there in the United States, the Colombian Army seized:
More than 111 tons of cocaine
Nearly 15 tons of cocaine base paste
More than 107 tons of marijuana
Besides that, they destroyed hundreds of laboratories for the processing of cocaine
In the fight against illegal mining, they carried out 889 captures, they seized heavy equipment and disabled dredges and mineshafts, directly hitting the finances of the armed groups.
In context: The ELN and the Clan del Golfo are at war over the gold and are confining southern Bolívar.
Combat between the Dissidents and the ELN in Catatumbo displaced nearly 250 people this Christmas.
“The actions of the ELN and the Dissidents are the cowardly expressions of terrorists”, Statement by the Armed Forces.
Going beyond combat
The analysis also highlights the work of the Military Engineers and the Comprehensive Action teams that work on infrastructure, humanitarian de-mining, road maintenance, and humanitarian assistance in regions like Catatumbo, La Guajira, Meta, Cesar, and Córdoba.
The challenge for 2026
In an interview with EL ESPECTADOR a few days ago, the Commander of the Colombian Army, General Luis Emilio Cardozo, made clear that the priority would be the coming elections. “The greatest challenge for the first half of 2026 is to guarantee the elections. We are working permanently on the Democracy Plan. But before that, the main challenge is to make sure that conditions are secure now, so that Colombians can travel in peace to their places of residence, get together with their families, and enjoy Christmas and New Years.”