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It is what he wants to spend his entire term on. Since his election, Gustavo Petro promised to end the violence that marks the history of Colombia. However, the bloodshed of recent months marks a setback for the project, with the stamp of the many illegal actors who want to impose their conditions on this promise of peace.
As a guerrilla member of the M-19, he has already participated in a peace process. But now as president, Gustavo Petro aspires not only to reach an agreement, but a “total peace” for Colombia.
And all the decisions that the new president has made since his inauguration on August 7 were guided by that ambition. But 25 days after his entry into office, the reality of the country caught up with him.
This Friday’s ambush in southwestern Colombia illustrates the difficulties that the president will have to build that comprehensive peace. The attack was carried out with explosives in the department of Huila, and ended with the death of seven police officers. The president did not hesitate to consider it a sabotage of the “total peace” longed for.
A multitude of actors as obstacles to peace
So far, those responsible for the attack are unknown. However, it is known that in Huila, -cradle of the FARC for decades-, dissidents of that group operate who did not accept or renounced the peace agreement signed in November 2016.
The attack was the most serious committed in the country since Gustavo Petro became president, but the FARC dissidents are not the only actors that could compromise the dream of peace of the new Colombian government.
To complete the panorama, other groups persist, such as the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia -or Clan del Golfo- and numerous criminal gangs dedicated mainly to drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion.
In the case of the political guerrilla ELN, the contacts advanced last month in Cuba, in the same place where the negotiations were four years ago, when Iván Duque came to power. This time, the guerrilla and government negotiators agreed to resume the peace talks.
Petro declared that with this new step he seeks “to try to build the path, hopefully quickly and expeditiously, where this organization ceases to be an insurgent guerrilla in Colombia.”
July, the month with the most attacks on the public force in 20 years
The ELN is not the only one to have expressed its intention to seek an agreement with the government; experts estimate that around thirty other illegal armed groups expressed similar interest. And even so, July was the month with the most attacks on the public force in Colombia in the last 20 years, with 90 attacks with multiple deaths and injuries, according to reports from El Cerac (Resource Center for Conflict Analysis).
These crimes predominate in the regions with a notable presence of the Clan del Golfo, the largest criminal gang in the country. And this is another actor who cannot be left out of Gustavo Petro’s plan, if complete peace is to be achieved. Or this would be, according to experts, the message that the organization wants to send with its so-called “pistol plan.”
Deep pain with the murder of the policemen.
Terrorists mock generosity, are dismissive of social offers, strengthen their criminal capacity with impunity.
Terrorism is only frightened by authority
– Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) September 2, 2022
Indeed, in the weeks prior to Petro’s inauguration, the Clan del Golfo unleashed a wave of attacks against police officers, in retaliation for the extradition to the United States last May of its leader, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel.” An extradition that was going to sign the “end” of the organization, according to the then president Iván Duque.
But it was not like that, and today, with that “pistol plan” that cost the lives of 36 police officers, the Clan del Golfo seeks to pressure the Petro Government before the announcement of a possible negotiation. But that eventuality does not seem feasible in the near future. While certain paramilitary groups are already listed as political entities, the Clan del Golfo is still a purely criminal organization. So to initiate discussions, a special and prior legislative process will be required.
Consolidate the implementation of the Peace Agreements
As for the great flammable of the war in Colombia, -drug trafficking-, Petro has promised “a paradigm shift.” According to the president, the first thing will be to comply with point 4 of the Peace Agreements, and find a solution to the problem of illicit drugs, in the first cocaine-producing country in the world. He assures that he will promote the substitution of land and economies, and will prohibit aerial spraying with glyphosate.
Finally, for all these actors, the UN report ‘Territorial Violence in Colombia: Recommendations for the new Government’, agrees that the predominantly military response is not enough to stop its expansion.
Published on July 26, the document emphasizes that the actions of the Armed Forces must be accompanied by other measures of intelligence, capital blockade and international relations of criminal movements, as well as social strategies so that the populations have better alternatives. of life.
These are some of the ways in which the Petro government can ensure that its aspiration for total peace does not remain utopian.
With AFP, Reuters, EFE and local media
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