A representative of Colombia’s government met with commanders of paramilitary organization EGC to prepare possible negotiations about their demobilization.
The government’s negotiator, Alvaro Jimenez, met with five of the members of the EGC’s central command, which operates from the Uraba region in northwestern Colombia.
The only authorized peace negotiator who wasn’t present at the “confidence building” meeting was Elkin Casarrubia, a.k.a. “El Cura.”
The EGC team
According to Jimenez, the negotiators met to talk about “the transformation of the territory” and “the end of this organization and the transition to a condition in which the social rule of law is vitalized in the regions where it is present.”
Moreover, the representatives of the government and the paramilitaries talked about “the protection of life” and “the reduction of violence in the regions where the group is present, and the protection of the environment.”
The talks additionally talked about undocumented migrants that travel through EGC territory in Uraba and “the end of illegal economies or the transition of illegal economies” that finance the paramilitary organization.
We hope that the country can move forward in the construction of peace with all armed groups, and that we can have better living conditions for the communities in the regions where these armed groups are present, exercise violence and prevent the development of a strong and rigorous institutional framework.
Alvaro Jimenez
Jimenez met with the EGC commanders at an undisclosed location 10 months after President Gustavo Petro authorized talks.
In order to facilitate the talks, the Prosecutor General’s Office suspended arrest warrants against the members of the paramilitary organization’s central command.
The EGC was formed by former members of the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC, which partly demobilized between 2003 and 2006.
Authorities estimate that the group has more than 7,000 members and is active in more than 300 of Colombia’s 1,100 municipalities.