Colombia suspends ceasefire with AGC criminal group

Because the Clan del Golfo, the nation’s largest criminal organization also known as the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces (AGC), attacked police, Colombian President Gustavo Petro issued an executive order suspending their ceasefire.

Petro tweeted, “I have instructed the armed forces to reactivate all military operations against the Clan del Golfo.

“We won’t allow them to keep sowing fear and anxiety in the neighborhoods.”

The Clan and government agreed to a cease-fire as part of efforts to end the group’s involvement in Colombia’s internal conflict, which has claimed at least 450,000 lives.

Read Also: Lagos guber: INEC announces Sanwo-Olu as winner

It was scheduled to begin on New Year’s Eve and last for six months. In a radio interview from a few days prior, on March 13, Petro accused the group of destroying a municipal aqueduct in the province of Antioquia amid roadblocks related to unofficial gold miners’ protests.

At the time, Petro declared that the group had “broken the ceasefire” and that if attacks continued, negotiations with the group were out of the question.

Authorities stated earlier on Sunday that six vehicles were set on fire in the Bajo Cauca region of the Antioquia department in an incident allegedly related to the mining protest.

Ivan Velasquez, the defense minister, told reporters on Sunday night that the government was certain that the Clan was accountable for both the violent incident and the rifle attack on law enforcement, which Petro had alluded to in a tweet earlier that day.

According to Velasquez, orders had been given to military units and the national police to create “offensive operations against the Clan del Golfo.” More than 10,000 law enforcement officers worked in the area, he continued.

Read Also: INEC Declares Kebbi Gubernatorial Election Inconclusive

Truck drivers passing through conflict zones were urged by Velasquez to join scheduled caravans that would be guarded by security personnel in order to prevent similar incidents.

Petro has asked Congress to approve a law allowing gangs to surrender in exchange for ceasing operations and making reparations to victims as part of his peace plan, which also includes reduced prison sentences.