Bloody Rescue in Chocó: Comprehensive State Policies and an End to Strategic Naivety Are Urgently Needed

    The bloody rescue of 39 people kidnapped by the ELN in Chocó was not an isolated event. It is a reality that the country does not view with the necessary clarity. While horror gripped the families of the hostages, the military operation exposed the fragility of security in strategic zones and the State's inability to protect its citizens preventively. The consequences of this event—indelible trauma and growing institutional desolation—are the balance sheet of the erratic "Total Peace," a management model that prefers rhetorical dialogues over the sovereign recovery of territory.

    The Petro government's "Total Peace" is a monumental strategic error. It appointed negotiators without the necessary tactical preparation, and by engaging in dialogue without a clear containment strategy against an actor that seeks strengthening rather than peace, the State has ceded legitimacy and terrain. Meanwhile, the ELN has empowered itself through illicit economies—drug trafficking, illegal mining, and human trafficking in border zones—acting as a criminal machine with an ideological facade.

    Chocó is not a casual choice for the ELN. Its geostrategic value is incalculable: it allows access to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and facilitates expansion toward the southwest, Valle, Cauca, Nariño, and projection toward the coffee region, Antioquia, and Córdoba. This position grants the group a geopolitical advantage to control illegal revenues and activate clandestine networks.

    The ELN occupies territory to build a long-term vision of a communist society. Its strategy includes communities instrumentalized by front organizations, fueled by networks of complicity with radical sectors of the Catholic Church, university professors, and intellectual elites of the left who, trapped in the past, promote an alleged "Marxist-Christian revolution" that fosters communist violence and narco-terrorism.

    It is evident that the State cannot continue to act in a fragmented manner. The solution is not exclusively military; it requires a combined strategy of security and development. Peace is not the absence of combat, but the proactive presence of the State. This approach requires the total integration of all branches of public power and the executive branch in situ.

    It is not enough to fight the armed communist bandit if the State does not arrive with economic development, infrastructure, and social services that break the cycle of dependency that armed groups have established through propaganda, drug trafficking, illegal economy, and terrorism.

     Geopolitical and Strategic Conclusions

    1. Sovereignty as a Regional Axis: Control of Chocó is key to national security. Without state control of this geostrategic node, the capacity to cut the illicit supply chains that connect the South Pacific with the Caribbean and the interior of the country is lost, allowing the ELN to act as a parallel state in the area.

    2. Failure of Negotiating Asymmetry: The strategy of negotiating without weakening the adversary's armed capacity is tactical suicide. The ELN interprets openness to dialogue as adversary weakness, using it to expand social and financial control while deepening its influence in the community structures its units have permeated.

    3. Threat of Ideological Subversion: The complicity between ELN units, radical religious sectors, and the left-wing academia forms a cultural resistance bloc that has been articulated for years. This "ecosystem of evil" does not just use weapons; it battles for young minds in regions of chronic state absence, turning poverty into fuel for communist terrorism.

    Recommendation: Toward a "Plan Lazo 2.0"

    To overcome this crisis, it is valid to implement a "Plan Lazo 2.0." This involves not only the necessary military operations but also multidimensional State policies that provide a comprehensive response to armed communist aggression:

     Political Sphere: Reaffirm the authority of the State and sovereignty in every centimeter of the territory.

     Military Sphere: Strengthen offensive and intelligence capabilities to dismantle criminal networks that exert terror against the population.

      Psychological and Cultural Sphere: Dismantle narratives of the "Christian revolution" and "romantic communism" that justify the presence of bandits in forgotten communities.

      Social and Economic Sphere: Generate real opportunities for employment and development. The State must occupy the voids that the ELN has filled with illegal mining and drug trafficking, offering alternatives for a dignified life through strategic and tactical development plans.

     Financial Sphere: Suffocate illicit economies through sustained offensives against money laundering and criminal revenues.

      Colombia must put aside illusions and work with joint determination. Only a State that integrates national defense with the comprehensive development of the population will be able to eradicate terrorists and block the subversive political commissars who stimulate eternal cycles of violence.

   A "Plan Lazo 2.0," with real commitment from all ministries in every affected region, would be a great first step toward a solution, ensuring that bloody rescues of kidnap victims and further criminal actions by the ELN and FARC are not repeated.