The main criminal groups in Colombia linked to the production and trafficking of cocaine proposed a ceasefire to the incoming government of President-elect Gustavo Petro on Thursday as a preamble to a dialogue leading to reconciliation and to the peace of the country.
The criminal gangs that launched the proposal have a presence in several regions of the country and are accused by the current government of Iván Duque of murdering social leaders and attacking members of the Armed Forces as part of its strategy to control coca leaf crops, laboratories of cocaine production and drug trafficking routes.
“We cannot be indifferent to the clamor of the Colombian people and the thoughts of its democratically elected president, in order to achieve the long-awaited peace with social justice, among many things,” assured the six illegal armed groups, among which the Clan del Golfo stands out. the Caparros and the Rastrojos.
“By virtue of this we propose to you, and to the Colombian people, to be an active part of this project. We are willing to dialogue and reconcile with the objective of stopping the cyclical violence that some of us control,” they assured.
Petro, a 62-year-old economist who will take office on August 7 the first leftist president in Colombiaproposed in the campaign a submission process for criminal gangs linked to drug trafficking.
The politician also raised a peace dialogue with the leftist guerrilla of the National Liberation Army, including the possibility of a bilateral ceasefire, as well as applying a peace agreement signed in 2016 to the FARC dissidents who rejected it and returned to the armed struggle.
complete peace
“We are willing to coordinate a ceasefire against the institutions as of August 7, to disarm at the right time, to ask for forgiveness, to provide total and comprehensive truth, to repair and above all not to repeat criminal acts,” they assured. illegal armed groups that number some 2,000 armed combatants, according to security sources.
The designated foreign minister of the incoming government, Álvaro Leyva, told reporters that peace with the illegal armed groups is one of the purposes of the president-elect to achieve “total peace.”
Petro, who is seeking approval in Congress of ambitious economic and social proposals to combat poverty and inequality, admitted in the campaign that during his government he will also seek to silence the guns and consolidate peace in the country of 50 million inhabitants overwhelmed by almost six decades of an internal armed conflict.
The confrontation left 450,000 dead between 1985 and 2018 alone, some 120,000 disappeared, 51,000 kidnapped, more than 7.7 million displaced and 16,000 children recruited by illegal armed groups, according to the Truth Commission.
The illegal armed groups asked for guarantees equal to those obtained by other organizations outside the law that have participated in the conflict and have later rejoined civilian life through peace agreements, in addition to suspending the extradition of people committed to the truth, forgiveness, justice, reparation to the victims and not repetition.
Between 2003 and 2006, in the first government of then President Álvaro Uribe, there was a negotiation that led to the submission of more than 30,000 members of the right-wing paramilitary squads, but after handing over their weapons, many returned to illegal activities such as drug trafficking.
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