THE CATATUMBO MOUNTAINS , March 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Commanders from Colombia's National Liberation Army guerrilla group have vowed to repel a government counteroffensive in the country's northeast, warning that years of "total peace" risk turning into "total war".

In a rare interview, carried out at a secret mountain location near the Venezuelan border, two senior guerrilla commanders told AFP that they would not hesitate to fight 10,000 government troops amassed nearby.

The thousands-strong guerrilla group, better known by its Spanish initials ELN, has waged a 60-year leftwing insurgency against the Colombian state, seizing swathes of territory and becoming a major player in the global cocaine trade.

Since January, ELN clashes with a rival guerrilla group in the Catatumbo border region have displaced almost 56,000 people and left at least 76 dead, according to government figures.

It is some of the worst violence Colombia has seen since peace accords were agreed in 2016.

The government has responded by declaring a state of emergency and deploying thousands of troops to the region.

President Gustavo Petro has vowed to reimpose state control by force if necessary. "The ELN has chosen the path of war, and that's what they will get" he said.

Guarded by some 30 heavily-armed fighters, ELN Commander "Ricardo" and Commander "Silvana Guerrero" -- sitting with rifles in hand -- indicated they were open to dialogue but ready for war.

"Petro has declared war. We are not afraid of that," said Ricardo, a leader of the ELN's northeastern war front.

"If the military continues to arrive, most likely we will have a confrontation, because we are going to defend ourselves as an insurgent force," he said.

"This total peace that Petro has been talking about, in the end, it is becoming total war."