Henry Ziemer, associate fellow for the Americas at the Center for Strategic & International Studies: “Attacks on oil pipelines have a storied history in Colombia’s long-running civil conflict. According to one study, between 2007 and 2015, 829 attacks were registered against hydrocarbons infrastructure, especially pipelines. From 1986 to 2015, the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline, a favorite target of the ELN, was attacked more than 1,300 times. Compared to earlier periods, the two attacks reported in April 2025 is therefore a minor inconvenience, but nevertheless portends ill for the future of Colombia’s struggle with nonstate armed groups. An escalating tempo of attacks on pipeline infrastructure may suggest that, following breakdown of the Petro administration’s start-and-stop peace negotiations process, groups like the ELN are returning to form, using attacks on civilians and infrastructure alike to extract political leverage. Oil pipelines, in this respect, are…”