The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has posted on social media:
“Together with the Justice and Peace Commission (@justiciaypazcol) and leaders from the Naya River and Cabeceras (Valle del Cauca), Cajibio, and Argelia (Cauca), we facilitated a valuable space for exchange and the development of collective strategies for environmental defense and territorial peacebuilding amidst humanitarian crises, armed conflicts, and violence stemming from the control of territories, their routes, and their natural resources. Urgent responses from the State—comprehensive and agreed upon with the affected communities—and a sustained presence of civil authorities in territories heavily impacted by armed actors and both licit and illicit economies are needed.”
The post above notes the Naya River, Cabeceras, Cajibio and Argelia.
To give some additional context to the situation noted by PBI-Colombia, we further highlight that The Rio Times reported on January 28, 2026: “In El Plateado, a rural population center in Argelia municipality, Cauca, an explosion linked to a drone attack killed at least one person and wounded many others. Early official and media counts differed, with 14 injured reported in initial statements and other outlets citing about 15. Local authorities said several victims suffered severe injuries. …Cauca is not a random target. El Plateado sits in the Cañón del Micay zone, a strategic corridor tied to armed control and illicit routes. The area has long been contested by illegal armed groups, including the ELN and dissident factions descended from the former FARC. In this case, some reporting attributed the attack to the ‘Carlos Patiño’ structure.”
We also note:
Argelia: In December 2025, Justice and Peace posted: “Illegal armed structure Segunda Marquetalia murders a peasant woman in the village of El Pinche, Santa Clara corregimiento. Argelia, Cauca. …KEISY was a single mother of a 2-year-old girl, a well-known peasant in the area who had no links with illegal armed groups, which is why the community is dismayed by the pronouncements of the illegal armed group Segunda Marquetalia, who claim that these people are casualties in the midst of fighting with the ELN, which in addition to the irreparable damage to the life of the young mother, creates an environment of stigmatization towards the peasant settlers.”
Naya River: In January 2025, Justice and Peace posted: “In this collective territory of the Naya River, two displacements were recorded in 2024, one internal and the other towards Buenaventura, the attention provided to 120 families who were forced to move is unknown . In September, a massacre was recorded with12 victims.”
PBI has accompanied the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission since 1994.
We continue to follow this situation.
