The establishment of a Temporary Deployment Zone for Front 33 in Tibú is delayed due to demining work.

After days without information about the agreement creating a Temporary Location Zone for the concentration of troops against 33 FARC dissidents , the government's peace delegation indicated that the delay in its installation is linked to the identification of mines in the agreed area.

It's worth remembering that the 45-day deadline announced by the national government in Resolution 161 of 2025 for the establishment of the zone—which was agreed upon in May of this year—expired last Monday.

"During the preparation phase, we identified the need to increase demining efforts in the designated area for the ZUT and surrounding areas to ensure the necessary security conditions for the movement of the community, public servants, international organizations, escorts and guarantors, law enforcement, and members of the 33rd Front, as well as for other activities that allow for its proper functioning," the delegation reported in a press release.

The statement also states that once the demining and preparation phases are completed, work will begin on establishing the zone, which will be in place for seven months.

"During this period, the Peace Dialogue Table has been conducting the process of disseminating the ZUT with communities and their organizations, including the Barí people and their authorities, the Mothers of Catatumbo, and peasant organizations," they added.

According to Resolution 161, the objective of the zone is to facilitate the transition of combatants to civilian life within the aforementioned seven-month period, as well as to allow for the implementation of comprehensive programs in the areas of security, justice, substitution of illicit economies, care for separated minors, reparation for victims, and humanitarian demining.

The resolution also provides for the suspension of arrest warrants (including extradition warrants) for members of the armed group while they moved toward the ZUT.

But beyond this Monday's announcement, the little that is known about the area is due to the conditions established by Law 2272 (the "total peace" law), such as the fact that it cannot be established in urban areas and that the normal and full exercise of the rule of law must be guaranteed in them; that is, they will not be demilitarized zones.

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez has also provided no further details on the progress of the establishment of the zone beyond stating that talks with the dissident group are moving forward. "We are simply awaiting the conclusions they reach to guarantee, under the constitution and the law, all the necessary security so that these groups can move toward peace," he stated last Thursday.

CAMILO A. CASTILLOPolitical EditorX: (@camiloandres894)