Ex-FARC factions clash over peace talks in Colombia

Criminal activity has increased in a key transit zone in southern Colombia, amid divisions between former FARC factions in the area, illustrating how government peace talks are straining relations between criminal factions.

The Office of the Ombudsman of Colombia has issued an “early warning” (warning for the time) on August 27, which outlined the increase in criminal activity and violence in the department of Huila, in particular by the Jorge Dario Gutiérrez and Iván Díaz fronts of the Jorge Suárez Briceño bloc of the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC).

The report identifies Neiva, the capital of the department, and the municipalities of Tello, Baray and Colombia as extremely risky areas.

Huila is a major drug transit route, with connections north to the departments of Caquetá, Meta, Cundinamarca, Tolima and the country’s capital, Bogotá.

“What makes Huila attractive is that it has become a corridor for the movement of (drugs), whether it comes from Caquetá or Cauca, to transport it to the main destination in Amazonas, from where it continues to Brazil to be sold,” Huila government secretary Mauricio Muñoz told RCN Radio in December 2023.

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This year, 17 incidents involving explosives have been reported, some of which were detonated and others were intercepted in time.

Over the past two years, the EMC has restricted civilian mobility, committed murders and kidnappings, extorted money from local businesses, and recruited many people from the region.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), humanitarian groups are being denied access to the population in Huila, as well as those in the neighboring towns of Caquetá and Meta, where civilian movement is also restricted.

“Humanitarian emergencies continue to intensify in areas where such events have not occurred for a long time,” said a September 3 OCHA report.

The Ombudsman Office warns that if left unchecked, EMC factions could expand their control to nearby areas. The authority also highlights recent reports of self-defense group activities, which are currently under investigation.

InSight Crime Analysis

The increase in violence and criminal activity in Huila is the result of divisions within the EMC over peace talks with the Colombian government.

On August 21, the Amazonas bloc of the EMC, led by Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco,” published a statement on X announcing “the beginning of military confrontations with the apostates.”

Mordisco’s factions broke off negotiations with the Colombian government in March and now consider those still negotiating, such as the fronts of Jorge Dario Gutiérrez and Iván Díaz, as traitors.

SEE ALSO: Two years later, ‘total peace’ in Colombia leads to more conflicts

Since then, activity on both sides has increased. On March 30, the EMC fronts led by Mordisco announced the creation of a new central front that would occupy the departments of Huila, Tolima and Quindío.

“Right now, Huila acts as a communications and logistical corridor, and as a kind of political connector for Mordisco, between the western and eastern parts of the country,” Juana Cabezas, a researcher at the Institute of Peace and Development Studies (Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz – Indepaz) told InSight Crime. “Being a corridor means that the territories will become the scene of violence, and that is what we are seeing.”

An Ombudsman warning in April of this year said that 102,000 people in two municipalities were at “imminent risk” of human rights violations due to the expansion of renegade EMC factions, including the Iván Díaz Front. A July 4 Ombudsman statement noted that forced recruitment of minors has increased on the border between Huila and neighboring Cauca.

Huila was historically dominated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC). Since the guerrilla group signed a peace treaty with the government in 2016, the area has been dominated by former FARC dissident groups, most recently the EMC.

“Before the peace accords, the area was completely controlled by the southeastern bloc, and after the accords, the area was the place where there was the least conflict between armed groups,” Cabezas said. “Now it’s the highest state of alert,” she added.

Main image: Three members of the EMC announce the creation of the new central block. Source: El Espectador