Bogota [Colombia], November 3: The US focus on drugs and neighbouring Venezuela has brought an international dimension to what was an internal Colombian conflict.
The Catatumbo region, which stretches along the border with Venezuela in the department of Norte de Santander, is Colombia's most volatile frontier.
Endowed with oil reserves and coca crops but impoverished and neglected, this border area has historically been a site of violent competition between armed groups fighting for territorial control.
The National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's largest remaining guerrilla force, maintains a strong and organised presence, operating across the porous border with Venezuela.
It is there that some of their fighters pick up an Al Jazeera reporting team and drive us to meet their commanders.
Tensions remain high in this region. In January, thousands of people were displaced because of the fighting between the ELN and a dissident faction from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that continues to operate in some parts of the country in spite of peace agreements brokered in 2016.
The fight is over control of the territory and access to the border with Venezuela, which is a crucial way to move drugs out of the country.
Entering the area, it's immediately apparent that the ELN is in total control here. There is no evidence of the country's military. ELN flags decorate the sideroads, and the signs give a clear message of the way the group's members see Colombia right now.
"Total peace is a failure," they say.
There is also no mobile phone signal. People tell the Al Jazeera team that telephone companies do not want to pay a tax to the armed groups controlling the territory.
When President Gustavo Petro took office, he promised to implement a total peace plan with Colombia's armed groups. But the negotiations have not been easy, especially with the ELN.
Al Jazeera meets with Commander Ricardo and Commander Silvana in a small house in the middle of the mountains. The interview has to be fast, they say, as they are concerned about a potential attack and reconnaissance drones that have been circulating in the area.
The commanders are accompanied by some of their fighters. Asked how many they have in the area, they respond, "We are thousands, and not everyone is wearing their uniforms. Some are urban guerrillas."
The government estimates the ELN has around 3,000 fighters. But the figure could be much higher.
Commander Ricardo, who is in charge of the region, says he believes there could be a chance for peace.
"The ELN has been battling for a political solution for 30 years with various difficulties," he says. "We believed that with Petro, we would advance in the process. But that did not happen. There's never been peace in Colombia. What we have is the peace of the graves."
The group and the government had been meeting in Mexico prior to the suspension of the talks. "If the accords we had in Mexico are still there, I believe our central command would agree [it] could open up the way for a political solution to this conflict", Commander Ricardo tells Al Jazeera.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
