Colombia’s largest paramilitary group, the AGC, said Sunday that it would redouble efforts to assume control over the country’s main cities in a blistering attack on President Ivan Duque.
According to the paramilitaries, “even in the capital cities the situation is chaotic, making it almost impossible to live together on a daily basis.”
In response to the cry of citizens, we announce that from now on we will redouble our efforts to make political, social and military presence in all capital cities, in order to give tranquility, security and protection to the communities of the popular sectors and the guilds of economic production. In this way, we continue to contribute to the cause of achieving a Colombia in peace, with social justice.
Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC)
The group of an estimated 7,000 men had been negotiating with the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos about an agreement that would allow them to demobilize and surrender to justice.
This effort was thwarted by the election of Duque, whose government reportedly lost contact with the group formed by dissident members of the now-defunct AUC paramilitary group.
We had hoped that with the government that took office on August 7, there would be a political will to offer security to those who need it most, those without capital, but this has not been the case, and we see with concern how the situation of public order deteriorates day by day, while only announcements are made that everything is going to change, as if state officials were still on campaign.
Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC)
In the same announcement that they would assume control over Colombia’s cities, the AGC also announced a unilateral ceasefire until January 10 and invited “all groups that take part in the conflict to assume a position similar to ours.”
Over the past years, the group has engaged in armed conflict with leftist ELN guerrillas and Los Caparrapos, a rival paramilitary group from the Bajo Cauca region.
The group rearmed demobilized AUC paramilitaries over a decade ago, claiming they had been betrayed by former President Alvaro Uribe, Duque’s political patron. They have since then expanded their areas of operation from the northwestern Uraba region to approximately a quarter of the country’s municipalities.
Why paramilitary groups still exist in Colombia
The security forces’ failure to assume control over territories controlled by the FARC, the guerrilla group that demobilized and disarmed last year, left a power vacuum in much of the country and severely deteriorated the security situation in some areas.
The AGC for years have asked to take part in the peace process with the FARC, which is opposed by Duque and other members of the country’s exclusive ruling class.
