President Gustavo Petro designated 18 of Colombia’s most notorious former war lords as “peace brokers” ahead of talks about their possible participation in peace building.
The decree signed by Petro allows his peace commissioner to organize events in which former AUC leaders, including those who remain in prison.
In the framework of a series of meetings held between the Office of the Peace Commissioner and former members of the extinct and self-styled Self-0Defense Forces of Colombia, between 2023 and 2024, it was agreed to set up technical roundtables. In this context, the persons to be appointed as peace brokers expressed their willingness to contribute with their knowledge and experience to the development of peace building activities and guarantees of non-repetition, structuring of peace processes and strategies for rapprochement with illegal armed actors.
Decree 453 of 2024
Among those who were appointed peace brokers are the AUC’s former top commander, Salvatore Mancuso, and regional unit commanders like “El Taladro” and “Jorge 40.”
Former Medellin drug lord and AUC founder “Don Berna” was also named peace broker despite being incarcerated in the United States.
Appointed “peace brokers”
Petro’s decision is controversial because many of the former AUC chiefs have in the past failed to cooperate with justice and are suspected to have kept many of the spoils of war.
The talks with the former warlords will be held parallel to negotiations with AUC successor groups like the EGC and “Los Pachenca,” as well as guerrilla group ELN and a dissident faction of FARC dissident organization EMC.