President Gustavo Petro declared a few days ago what his red lines are in his total peace policy against organized crime and criminal gangs. “In drug trafficking, power is not negotiable,” he said firmly, adding that “it’s the judiciary that has to deal with these groups because it’s about bringing them to justice.”
This clarification of what should (and shouldn’t) be negotiated with the drug trade was made by the President after exposing the existence of a cartel of lawyers whom he would negotiate for large sums of money and in the name of his peace Total he promises to the gangsters and Parapoliticians who pay his fine, the gold and the Moro.
There are videos soon to be released to the public of drug dealers paying large sums of money on promises of regaining their freedom and not being extradited. The stick is not for spoons.
If this clandestine celebration, taking place in Colombian prisons, is not stopped, it could jeopardize the progressive and reformist project of Colombia’s first left-wing president.
It is therefore necessary to clarify how this approach to criminal gangs will be carried out. The High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, a reticent Catholic who has toured Colombian prisons demanding respect for prisoners’ rights, has the experience and knowledge to advance these negotiations with the gangs, particularly the Clan del Golfo , undoubtedly the most important of all. However, the exaggerated secrecy with which he has made these approaches — you may not know the name of one of the peace managers — has filled the process with unnecessary opacity.
Ambiguity about the powers of government-appointed peace managers has led many drug traffickers to pay up to $1 million for a spot on the managers’ list, seeing it as a way to get out and avoid extradition. But, more than that, the fact that all of this is happening while the text of the Subjugation Act is not even known (which the government is due to present to Congress this week) is leading its critics to claim that the La Picota Pact is a secret treaty signed of the mafia, which seeks not subjugation but complete impunity.
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This government has all the moral authority to pursue a promotion process with the Clan del Golfo. This band has been growing ever since the peace agreement was signed with FARC. When these guerrillas disarmed and ceased to be in control of several areas, it was expected that the state would step in and have a presence there. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and this vacuum eventually took over the Clan del Golfo, a criminal organization that exercises territorial control and is the armed expression of a mafia entrenched in power, laundering money and electing mayors, governors and congressman. The Clan del Golfo is responsible for most of the murders of social leaders in Colombia today.
That Petro wants to find a peaceful solution to agree with them on submission is an ethical duty. What they cannot allow is for this policy to be negotiated in the secret of the prisons, behind their backs and hidden from the country.
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