Businesses shut down and public transport was at a standstill Tuesday in Colombia’s Choco department, as rebels from the National Liberation Army, or ELN, launched a three-day “armed strike” that confines civilians to their homes and restricts commercial activity.
The move comes as violence worsens in several rural areas of Colombia, including the Choco region in the west, where 1,600 people have been displaced from their homes over the past two weeks, according to Colombia’s human rights ombudsman’s office.
