The unusually deadly violence delivers a devastating blow to the “total peace” program of the country’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro.

More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend following the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the ELN, the country’s largest guerilla group, of committing ‘war crimes’ and declared on social media, “The ELN shows no willingness to make peace”

Clashes between armed groups in Colombia have led to some of the worst violence in the country in years. By Julie Turkewitz Reporting from Bogotá, Colombia At least 80 people are dead and more than 18,