Colombia sends troops into Caribbean city as gang-violence flares

Santa Marta, a Caribbean city in Colombia, was placed under military control on Tuesday after a wave of violence erupted following the killing of a key member of the self-styled Conquering Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN). The ACSN, an armed group with ties to Colombia's former paramilitary movement, has been involved in extortion and cocaine trafficking.

Videos circulating online depicted ACSN members riding motorbikes through the city while targeting businesses, even as a 48-hour curfew had been announced by the ACSN itself.

In the wake of the violence, dozens of shops were closed and parts of the city were left deserted. Vehicles, including a truck ablaze and a charred bus, were seen littering the streets. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella swiftly responded by deploying troops along the highway connecting Santa Marta with the La Guajira department on the Venezuelan border, an area where the ACSN also operates.

In a video statement, President de la Espriella declared that Santa Marta would be "militarized" and vowed that "anyone who does not submit will be taken down." He added that the 13 ACSN members killed, including the group's second-in-command, known as "Cholo," were "narcoterrorists." The Colombian President's predecessor, Gustavo Petro, had engaged in failed peace talks with the ACSN, and the group is estimated to have around 800 members.

President de la Espriella, backed by the United States, has vowed to either imprison or eliminate all armed groups in Colombia, leaving no option but "prison or a tomb."