Both the ELN and FARC-EMC have long fought for control over this drug-rich area, but recent violence marks a significant escalation.

The Colombian border village of Tres Bocas has become a ghost town as residents flee to neighboring Venezuela to escape a new wave of violence that has left at least 80 people dead and displaced thousands in Colombia’s Catatumbo region.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday issued a decree that gives him emergency powers to respond to an outbreak of deadly violence between rival armed groups in the north-eastern Catatumbo region.