A religious ceremony for the murder of seven police officers, in Neiva, on September 6, 2022. Presidency of Colombia
Gustavo Petro has not been able to contain the violence he inherited from his predecessor, Iván Duque.
Colombia continues to be mired in violence despite the total peace policy of the new president, who has put an end to the conflict with all armed groups as the main objective of his mandate.
While Duque prioritized military operations and reinforced police and judicial action, Petro has sought to bring state institutions to all territories with "command posts unified for life."
Although he has only been there for a short time, for now that initiative has not been enough.
Massacres have grown in the country, which this year now total 94 with 354 victims, and massive displacements, since up to November 70,000 people had had to leave their homes.
Between January and October, collective homicides exceeded the figures for all of 2021 by 20%, documents the Institute for Development and Peace Studies, Indepaz.
"In the first quarter of the Government, this difference increased considerably, reaching 38%," says a report from the organization.
This shows that up to now Petro's security policy has not meant a break in the violent dynamics.
Last Tuesday there were two almost simultaneous massacres, which left eight people dead in Putumayo and in Meta.
In both areas there is a presence of dissident groups of the FARC;
In the case of Putumayo, there is also a dispute between mafia groups over drug trafficking routes on the border with Ecuador.
“The IFJ warned that the security proposals were trapped in moderate or insubstantial reforms, such as those of the Police and the Army.
There are no innovative strategies and it is worrying that those announced revolve around the protection of the security system and not of the citizens”, pointed out the Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP), in a report on the first hundred days of the mandate.
Petro received the country in a critical security situation.
His total peace policy, in which he favors dialogue and negotiation to confront violent groups, meant a change in the state's discourse on war.
But it still has no effect on the reality of populations in departments such as Arauca, Cauca, Chocó, Putumayo or Nariño, where more than one massacre has occurred this year.
The new Government has managed to reduce the confrontations between armed groups and the State, but the humanitarian situation continues showing alarming figures.
Territorial disputes between illegals continue to be one of the main challenges for the policy of total peace.
Jorge Mantilla, FIP's director of conflict dynamics, points to several reasons why Petro has not been able to stop the violence.
“Total peace has remained, above all, in announcements.
For example, the multilateral ceasefire that was talked about at the end of September never materialized.
Much of the announcements that have been made about rapprochements with armed groups have not moved forward either.
After the assassination of the six soldiers in Cauca, on December 7,
Petro has not specified a negotiation methodology nor has it established, or at least not publicly, a legal framework for the subjugation of armed gangs.
“The bill has not even been introduced.
And that means that the announcements by the High Commissioner and the national government on "total peace" have not had an effect on the territory," says Mantilla, who mentions the case of Buenaventura, where homicides and the main criminal gangs in the port have decreased. , the Shottas and the Spartans, star in the first attempt at peace talks between gangs.
"But there are still questions regarding other armed structures that are, above all, in the rural area of Buenaventura, which presents an increase in threats and in individual displacements," says the researcher.
The record of massacres in Colombia is mainly in the hands of human rights organizations.
Regarding the two that occurred last week, the Government has remained silent, while NGOs such as Indepaz continue to keep a blog with the victims of these collective homicides.
Regarding those in Putumayo and Meta, the organization has indicated that the victims were attacked by armed men who did not identify themselves as members of any illegal group.
FARC dissident fronts operate in both areas and in the case of Putumayo, territorial power is disputed by the so-called Border Commandos, a band of former FARC guerrillas, and La Constru, a group originating from demobilized paramilitaries.
The Ombudsman's Office has issued several alerts in which it indicates that there are social and economic aspects associated with land tenure, as well as gaps in institutional care in that region that "favor the presence and strengthening of illegal actors."
The worst massacres this year have been recorded in that area of the country.
On March 28, in Puerto Leguízamo, 30 hooded men dressed in black shot at civilians who were participating in a bazaar to finance community projects in the village of Alto Remanso and other neighboring villages.
In total, 11 people were killed.
In November, a dispute between the Carolina Ramírez Front and the Border Commandos in Puerto Guzmán, also in Putumayo, left at least 18 dead.
Massacre #94 that occurred in 2022
12/13/22
Puerto Gaitán, Meta
Three young people were murdered in the village of Puerto Triunfo, a rural area of the municipality of Puerto Gaitán in Meta.
According to the first versions, they would have been attacked by a group of armed men who entered the area pic.twitter.com/8pyC1e3QEj
— INDEPAZ (@Indepaz) December 14, 2022
The FIP researcher points out that one of the challenges for the Government of total peace is to specify the rules with which the armed organizations will participate in this policy.
"There must be clarity about when a group loses the opportunity to be part of the process, because it is still impressive that in the face of each act of violence, the Peace Commissioner requests demonstrations of goodwill, but there is no date or conditions that establish when it is considered that a structure does not have the will to negotiate”, he points out.
“The Government also faces strong intelligence problems, in terms of anticipating violent acts and designing more territorial interventions for certain regions of the country, which can stop this escalation of violence that exists in places like Chocó or Cauca,
In the last hours, in Caldono, in Cauca, the indigenous communities have launched an alert so that the Government attends to the violence of which they are victims.
On December 14, at 6:30 p.m., armed men broke into the house of the councilor of the Nasa council, Lucio Guetio Campo.
"The non-presence of the counselor in his place of residence prevented one more murder," denounces the community, which demands the presence of the state.
"We call on the Government, State institutions and the international community to address in a timely manner the human rights violations suffered by indigenous communities in the territories," asked indigenous senator Aida Quilcué, victim of an attack in that region. last november.
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