Colombia: Gustavo Petro suspends ceasefire with Clan del Golfo

Taraza, Bajo Cauca, Colombia, March 15, 2023: demonstration by minors, mostly working in illegal conditions, protesting against the destruction of their tools and facilities by the police. AP - Fernando Vergara

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday (March 19th) suspended the ceasefire he had concluded on December 31st with the Clan del Golfo cartel, the country's main drug gang.

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According to the government, the organization has been behind intimidation and attacks against villagers in the northwest of the country for more than two weeks. "I have ordered the security forces to reactivate all military operations against the Gulf Clan," Petro said on Twitter.

El ataque con fusil a la fuerza disponible de la policía por parte del clan del golfo rompe el cese al fuego.

A partir de este momento no hay cese al fuego con el clan del golfo. La fuerza pública debe actuar de inmediato contra las estructuras de la organización mafiosa.

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 19, 2023

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We will not let them continue to sow anxiety and terror in communities " adds the Colombian President.

Illegal gold mining

In particular, the government accuses the Clan del Golfo of being behind the miners' protest movement in Bajo Cauca, in the west of the country. Workers in illegal mines have been protesting since early March against military and police operations to destroy the devices with which they mine gold. It should be remembered that gold mining is a source of significant pollution of waterways, in particular because of the mercury used to amalgamate gold particles. There have been armed clashes with police and the government suspects the clan has not stopped its cocaine and gold trafficking and encourages the climate of violence.

Incineración de 6 vehículos en la troncal de occidente, entre Valdivia y Caucasia, y el hostigamiento con fusil a unidades de la fuerza pública. Protesta Pacífica?? pic.twitter.com/Mplbm7fL4t

— Aníbal Gaviria Correa (@anibalgaviria) March 19, 2023 President Petro accuses the Gulf Clan of prioritizing profits from illegal gold over peace talks and says they have taken advantage of the ceasefire to increase their presence in illegal mines. According to official estimates, the Gulf cartel is responsible for 30 to 60 percent of drug exports from Colombia, the world's largest producer of cocaine.

The clan appointed lawyers a few weeks ago to begin discussions with the government. But it demanded recognition on the same level as the ELN guerrillas, who were recognized by the government as a political organization in these peace talks. In addition, the Attorney General refused to suspend the capture orders that had been issued against the representatives of the clan to participate in the negotiations.

The entourage of Gustavo Petro was not always in favor of this policy of the outstretched hand launched last December. The Clan del golfo is known for its abuses and regulated cutting of areas under its control, practicing what it calls "social cleansing".

Peace in all directions?

Upon coming to power, Gustavo Petro launched an ambitious "total peace" project aimed at ending violence in the country after more than fifty years of internal war. On December 31, the Colombian government announced a bilateral ceasefire with the Clan del Golfo, but also the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN, Guevarist), the splinter groups of the former Marxist guerrilla FARC (Segunda Marquetalia and Central Staff), which did not sign the 2016 peace agreement, and paramilitary groups (Gaitan Self-Defense of Colombia) and the Sierra Nevada Self-Defense Forces). . This was the first step towards negotiating with all armed groups in Colombia from the country's first left-wing government.

► Read also: in Colombia, President Petro's plan to dismantle cartels

A construction site with four entrances, one of which has just closed with the breakdown of discussions with the Clan del Golfo.

(and with agencies)

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• Colombia
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