In a move that could potentially turn Colombia’s criminal landscape on its head, the government has announced it will open negotiations with the country’s most powerful drug trafficking organization, the AGC.
Through a presidential decree, President Gustavo Petro authorized a “Socio-Legal Dialogue Space” with the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC), also known as the Gaitanistas or the Clan del Golfo, on July 8, 2024. The document, which was made public on August 5, marks the first step in a new round of negotiations with the group.
On July 22, the government recognized six members of the AGC as representatives for the dialogue and requested that authorities suspend their arrest warrants. Among them was the group’s main leader, Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias “Chiquito Malo,” wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States.
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“The Socio-Legal Dialogue Space aims to verify the group’s willingness to transition towards the rule of law and establish the terms of their submission to justice as permitted by law,” the decree stated.
The decree seems to imply that any new talks with the AGC would follow the same approach as previous attempts, meaning they would be carried out based on the “Ley de Sometimiento” (Submission Law) in which the group surrenders or lays down arms in exchange for judicial benefits, such as reduced sentences.
The new attempt at peace with the AGC comes as the government’s talks with other armed groups are in critical condition. Petro’s flagship policy, Total Peace, by which the government is seeking demobilization agreements with criminal and armed groups across Colombia, has become a revolving door of groups entering and exiting negotiations.
One of Colombia’s most powerful armed groups, the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC), which is a confederation of dissident groups from the now demobilized guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), has split into two factions. One faction, led by Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco,” has abandoned the talks. The other, led by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias “Calarcá,” continues to negotiate.
The central process with the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) is frozen after the two parties failed to reach an agreement to extend a ceasefire that expired on August 3.
If the negotiations go ahead, the AGC would be rejoining Total Peace, having already participated once before. The group agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the Colombian government in January 2023, but in March, Petro ended the ceasefire, accusing the group of inciting violence during a mining strike in northwestern Antioquia that left at least 18 dead.
InSight Crime Analysis
The announcement of the Socio-Legal Dialogue Space with the AGC could drastically impact Colombia’s criminal panorama.
Even before negotiations formally begin, the sides seem to already be at odds as to which legal framework would be used in any negotiations.
A central point of contention is the government’s categorization of the AGC. Currently, there is no legal framework for the demobilization of armed groups that the government does not recognize as “political” actors. The AGC are considered a “high-impact organized crime armed group” by the Colombian government, which means that under the current legislation, the government would only be allowed to negotiate via the Submission Law.
But during an interview with Colombian media outlet BluRadio on August 6, Ricardo Giraldo, the lawyer for the AGC, said that the group is calling for “transitional justice” – a key aspect of past negotiations with groups the government has classified as rebels – rather than using the Submission Law to reach an agreement. The EMC and ELN have been granted this political status.
“[The AGC] have come from several completely failed submission processes, so it is not going to be the real solution for achieving peace in Colombia,” said Giraldo.
Without legislation passed by Congress approving new judicial frameworks that would allow nonpolitical actors to negotiate surrender without the Submission Law, the only option would be to grant the AGC the political status they are seeking
SEE ALSO: Colombia’s Total Peace Hangs by a Thread After Ceasefire With ELN Expires
The government has opened several Socio-Legal Dialogue spaces with other criminal groups, including the urban criminal groups in the Valle de Aburrá, Buenaventura, and Quibdó. But these talks have been hindered by the same lack of a legal framework that would allow these groups to demobilize without the Submission Law.
Should negotiations between the government and the AGC move forward, a potential ceasefire would likely give the group an advantage in its territorial disputes with other criminal actors in key areas of the country. This is the inverse of what was the case just six months ago, when both the ELN and EMC had bilateral ceasefires with the governments while the AGC did not.
The AGC’s main criminal dispute takes place in the department of Chocó, where the group has been involved in a war with the ELN for control of drug trafficking routes and illegal mining since 2018. In Bolívar, an illegal mining hotspot and cocaine highway across the country, the AGC has been involved in a dispute with the ELN and the Magdalena Medio Bloc of the EMC – which remains in negotiations with the government – since late 2021.
And in Norte de Santander, the AGC have for years been trying to reconquer lost territory and move into the Catatumbo region, one of Colombia’s coca production enclaves and a key transit route.
A potential ceasefire would give the AGC an advantage over the ELN, its main criminal competitor in these key areas, while undermining Operation Agamenón, the government’s own revived military strategy to dismantle the AGC, whose most recent phase was announced in February.
Feature image: A Colombian soldier walks in front of a building with graffiti reading “AGC.” Credit: Joaquin Sarmiento (AFP).