At least 52 guerrilla fighters have been killed in clashes between two rival armed factions in a remote jungle region of south-east Colombia, in some of the most lethal inter-group fighting the country has seen in recent months. The violence erupted on Monday and continued for at least three days in the department of Guaviare — a vast Amazonian territory that has long been a stronghold of Colombia's insurgent left and remains deeply contested — near the village of Barranco Colorado. The death toll, reported by one of the factions involved in the fighting, could not be independently verified, though local officials and media confirmed heavy casualties. The mayor of San José del Guaviare, Willy Rodríguez, described a grim scene: "The bodies are piled up there — they need to be removed." Rescue teams were still awaiting permission from the armed groups to retrieve the dead.

The clashes pitted two dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organisation that at its peak fielded some 13,000 fighters. Both groups rejected the landmark 2016 peace agreement that led most FARC members to disarm. One faction is led by Néstor Gregorio Vera, known as Iván Mordisco, currently Colombia's most wanted man, whose group remains in open conflict with the state after the government suspended a bilateral ceasefire with it in 2024. The other is led by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, known as Calarcá Córdoba, whose group is currently engaged in peace talks with the government. Once allies, the two factions split in 2023 over disagreements about the peace process. Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said their clash was rooted in competition over "drug trafficking, extortion and other illicit activities," adding that minors may have been among the dead.

The bloodshed comes just days before Sunday's presidential election, in which Colombians will choose a successor to outgoing President Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla who became the country's first left-wing head of state. Petro's signature "total peace" strategy — an ambitious attempt to negotiate simultaneously with multiple armed groups — has struggled to take hold, and public security has deteriorated sharply on his watch, with kidnappings more than doubling last year to 527. The violence casts a long shadow over the vote, which has already been marred by murders, kidnappings and bomb attacks. In response, the defence minister announced the deployment of 408,000 security force members supported by aircraft, drones and armoured vehicles to protect polling stations.

The broader armed conflict, fuelled primarily by cocaine trafficking and illegal mining, has lasted more than six decades and claimed over 450,000 lives while displacing millions. Two separate ceasefire announcements — one from the FARC's largest dissident body, the Central General Staff, covering the period between 20 May and 10 June, and another from the National Liberation Army (ELN) — had raised hopes of a calmer election period. But neither ceasefire covered inter-faction fighting, leaving the jungle battlegrounds of Guaviare beyond their reach. Security now looms as the defining issue of the election: the leading left-wing candidate, senator Iván Cepeda, has vowed to continue pursuing dialogue with armed groups, while his right-wing rivals, led by lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, argue that the only answer is decisive military force. If no candidate clears 50 percent on Sunday, a run-off will be held on 21 June.