On the slopes overlooking downtown Medellín, Colombia’s second-largest city, gun-toting gangs control vast swathes of the neighborhood, monitor the local drug trade, extort money from corporations, and roam the turf. enforces the rules of
Such gangs, which now employ up to 14,000 people, have declared that they are ready to let everything go. On June 2, after nine months of secret meetings with officials, 16 gang leaders imprisoned in a high-security prison outside Medellín formalized talks with the government to discuss disarmament and reintegration. announced that it would start on
“We want to start on a different path – the path of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation,” said the gang’s spokesperson and head of drug lord La Officina, originally founded as part of Pablo Escobar. Imprisoned leader Sebastian Murillo said. Medellín Cartel.
Since the 1980s, Colombia has held talks with politically motivated rebels and militias that have fueled nearly 60 years of conflict in the countryside. But for the first time, Colombia is using a similar approach to dismantle city gangs and end criminal rule in the city.
“One of the ways Colombia has learned to reduce violence is through the peace process,” said German Valencia, a researcher at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Antioquia. “But the peace process need not necessarily be political.”
Violence has returned to parts of the country in the wake of a 2016 peace agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government.
More than 50 armed groups are currently fighting over lucrative drug routes and illegal mining networks abandoned by the FARC. President Gustavo Petro has promised to reduce the number of groups through dialogue and negotiations as part of a “total peace” strategy.
The leftist rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and a dozen other groups now control large swaths of rural Colombia. The ELN signed a temporary ceasefire with the government on Friday, a major milestone, with other militants similarly interested in dialogue with the government.
But experts say Medellín is key to curbing the spread of violence. About 40% of Colombia’s armed groups are based in the city.
“It makes no sense to think of ‘perfect peace’ without also taking into account the dynamics of urban violence in Colombia,” said Mariana Duque, a political scientist at the Pontifical Bolívar University in Bogota.
Due to the armed conflict and the displacement of more than 8 million people inside the country, the majority of Colombians (about 80%) now live in cities. Conflict remains rampant there, including gang recruitment, extortion and drug trafficking.
Medellín, once known as the murder city of the world, has seen a sharp decline in violent incidents, but experts say non-violent crimes such as extortion have actually increased as gangs spread across the city. said there is.
“This is more of a psychological violence, they are ruled by fear and no one dares to talk about it,” said community leader ‘Chiro’, who spoke on condition of anonymity. His neighborhood, Comuna 13, is being touted as an example of positive transformation in Medellín.
But the study found that 350 to 400 street gangs formed large, mafia-like alliances and exerted influence in virtually all low- and middle-income neighborhoods. Offering money, security and honor to lure young people into their ranks, Medellín’s gangs now have more members than many armed groups in Colombia’s conflict-ridden countryside.
To reduce the influence of gangs, government dialogue aims to reduce the number of people participating in gang activities, said Valencia, a political science researcher.
About 90% of Medellín’s gangs have acknowledged their interest in dialogue, according to government sources, but questions remain about whether they will actually disarm. Despite signing a ceasefire and promising to stop the sale of fentanyl and heroin, experts fear the criminal gangs have little incentive to disarm.
Because criminal gangs in Medellín are generally not motivated by political ideology, unlike the ELN and other groups of rebels, the government decided to frame its dialogue with them in a different way.
Congress is currently working out a series of non-negotiable terms that criminal gang participants must accept without presenting their own demands.
So far, under the proposed bill, gangs and cartels that demobilize, release information on criminal networks and provide reparations to victims would receive reduced prison sentences. You can also keep up to 6% of your illicit assets, capped at about $2.7 million.
Still, experts question whether the proposed benefits will be disarmingly attractive for thousands. Gang leaders in prison may be motivated by reduced sentences. However, it is less clear what attracts lower- and middle-class gang members whose livelihoods are at stake, as criminal activity may go unnoticed by authorities.
“Street gang leaders earn between 5 million pesos and 10 million pesos.” [about $1,200 to $2,400] A month,” said political scientist Duque. “What would need to change to get these people out of the illicit economy?”
Experts agree that the dialogue should also lead to increased access to jobs, health care and education in peri-urban areas where the country has little presence. These measures help ensure the long-term reintegration of young people into society.
Otherwise, Valencia said the talks risked exacerbating the conflict.
For decades, gangs in Medellín formed alliances and pacts to determine who controlled which territories. Valencia said the deal could have one of two outcomes. Either the talks are successful and violence and crime in the city decrease, or the partial demobilization dismantles gang pacts and provokes more violence.
“We hope this meeting will serve as an example of how this country can achieve urban peace,” he said.
