00:00the
00:14civilians in colombia fleeing a new outbreak of fighting among the rebel groups who've been active
00:19in the country since the 60s the biggest rebel group the farc farc signed a peace deal in 2016
00:28but smaller groups continue to fight over territory and control of the drug trade new fighting broke
00:34out january 16th between a group called eln and an offshoot of the farc more than 50 people have
00:43been killed so far the colombian president has accused the eln of war crimes and halted peace
00:55talks with the group we managed to speak to two residents of the catatumbo region where the
01:05fighting is taking place santiago is a teacher at a rural school he was there when the fighting broke
01:11out
01:17and
01:20Llega un padre de familia y le dice, pronto váyanse de aquà porque hay un enfrentamiento y deben evacuar antes de que pronto eso se complique más.
01:29Entonces de inmediato cerramos los salones, cerramos la escuela, la escuela y nos devolvimos. Y desde ahà estuvimos cerrados en la casa.
01:38Desde el mismo dÃa que inició la confrontación, la gente empezó a salir desde las veredas. En la vereda donde está mi escuelita no quedó ni una sola persona.
01:46Todos los que estaban en moto le pusieron una banderita blanca a las motos para como resguardarse de algo que se encontraron en el camino.
01:56La gente que ha salido desplazada teme totalmente al ingreso del ELN al territorio porque son los que han estado masacrando campesinos, masacrando civiles.
02:07Two weeks after the fighting began, Santiago was still in the region concerned for his safety.
02:12Another resident, we'll call Camilo, got a helicopter flight out to Cucuta, on the Venezuelan border.
02:18He is a human rights activist, meaning he could be a target for the ELN.
02:22Por ser activista social, por haberlo desconfrontado polÃticamente en algunos espacios, sabÃa claramente que yo era uno de los blancos.
02:32De ellos veÃamos que tenÃamos que salir del territorio.
02:35El dÃa 19 salimos hacia la ciudad de Cucuta, alrededor de 45 personas evacuamos ese dÃa.
02:42Lo que hoy nos está haciendo vivir el ELN a nosotros en Catatumbo es la misma historia que vivimos en la época paramilitar desde 1999 hasta 2006.
02:53Una historia de guerra, de desplazamiento, de muerte.
02:57Our observers say residents had warned the central government that fighting might break out, and said the government should have taken measures to prevent it.
03:04They also blamed Venezuela, which is often accused of supporting the ELN.
03:08This is Taiwan television showing satellite images of worrying new construction at a shipyard in southern China.
03:29Experts say the vessel under construction is in fact a barge, a barge capable of deploying a road bridge that could deliver troops and vehicles to the shore.
03:38Dans la perspective d'une opération militaire et de l'usage de la force sur Taiwan,
03:42le Parti communiste chinois a considerablement accru ses efforts sur la modernisation de sa marine,
03:47notamment en incorporant des dimensions civiles et commerciales de ses navires,
03:51des barges de débarquement pour créer des ports artificiels et des conditions de débarquement massifs à très grande ampleur,
03:57de millions d'hommes, de milliers de véhicules.
03:59Dans la nature de ces différentes barges, vous avez la possibilité d'avoir des rampes dépliables ou qui peuvent être prolongées pour créer une sorte de pont ou d'infrastructures permettant le déploiement, permettant le débarquement de troupes, véhicules, matériels vers la zone ciblée.
04:17Analysts believe the Chinese system is inspired by the D-Day landings in 1944,
04:22when the Allies began the liberation of France from Nazi Germany.
04:25The Allies used floating piers to deliver supplies to the troops on shore.
04:30The Chinese navy would also need to create artificial harbours if it wanted to invade Taiwan.
04:35Much of the island's coast is rocky with shallow water.
04:38The Chinese barges have been equipped with what are called jack-up pillars, extendable feet, that support them on an uneven seabed.
04:47Vous avez effectivement pour ces barges à leur bord des équipements qui peuvent être déployés,
04:53c'est-à -dire des grands piliers en forme de télescopique qui se déploient, qui se dressent et qui viennent s'immerger dans l'eau,
05:00se fixer au sol, en tout cas s'appuyer sur les fonds, trouver une sorte de confort et de stabilité pour pouvoir déployer les fameuses troupes.
05:06The Chinese military has staged exercises showing civilian vessels docking at the floating piers
05:11and delivering armoured vehicles to the shore.
05:15There's no indication that the system is ready for large-scale operation at this stage.
05:19Est-ce que l'invasion de Taiwan serait imminente?
05:23A priori non, pas demain matin, ni la semaine prochaine.
05:25Ce que l'on peut estimer, c'est que pour une opération d'ampleur de débarquement,
05:31cela nécessiterait des centaines ou des milliers de navires.
05:34Le nombre actuel, effectivement, de barges en particulier ou d'autres types de navires
05:38qui sont au sein de la marine chinoise n'est pas encore à ce stade-là .
05:43En revanche, ce que l'on observe, ce sont des efforts constants et massifs
05:47consacrés à ces différents programmes navals.
05:50In his end-of-year address, President Xi Jinping reiterated China's long-held position
05:55that Taiwan is part of China and that so-called reunification will happen
06:00and no one can stop it.
06:04That's it for this week.
06:05As always, you can find more reports from our observers on our website,
06:08observers.france34.com.
06:10I'll see you next time.
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