Peace that never came

Guerrilla fighters with the FARC in Norte de Santander, Colombia, where they are clashing with the ELN. — Federico Rios Escobar/The New York Times

THE police officers barricaded themselves inside sandbagged stations. When they left on sporadic patrols, they rode in packs of six, clutching rifles, their faces hidden behind masks.

They do not venture deeper into the jungle. Out there, in the remote part of northeast Colombia, dirt roads wind past fields of coca and white flags flutter outside homes of civilians desperate to avoid the crossfire between two guerilla groups battling for territory.