Quibdó, Colombia – A truce signed between three gangs in December lowered murder charges in Quibdó, the capital of Colombia’s impoverished Chocó area, by 56%, mentioned authorities.
Authorities officers, NGOs, the Catholic Church, and group leaders negotiated the ceasefire between native gangs Los RPS, Los Mexicanos, and Locos Yam, which was not too long ago prolonged till the top of March.
However with the deal as a consequence of expire quickly and the federal government appointing a brand new delegation, insiders fear that the truce is fragile and that renewed violence might erupt at any second.
Quibdó is Colombia’s poorest metropolis, with some 60% of its 130,000 residents residing in poverty, based on the government.
This financial underdevelopment has produced a historical past of violence, based on Luis Gregorio Moreno Mosquera, a lawyer from Quibdó appointed by the Colombian president’s workplace to steer negotiations with gangs within the metropolis.
“The State has by no means invested [in Quibdó], so the causes of violence, primarily poverty, haven’t been tackled,” Moreno informed Latin America Stories.
Gangs within the metropolis recruit individuals as younger as 12, with their ranks consisting of the city poor who had been by no means given different alternatives, based on the negotiator. Many of the teams rely upon theft and extortion to earn a living, threatening violence towards anybody who resists.
Lately, gangs competing for management of territory within the metropolis have fuelled a wave of homicides which have particularly impacted younger individuals. In 2024 alone, 148 younger individuals had been killed in Quibdó.
Wiston Mosquera Moreno, the Catholic Bishop of Chocó, described the killings as “fratricide,” lamenting the size of the bloodshed in his parish.
“Daily we heard information that they killed a younger man right here, one other one right here, one other one right here,” Mosquera informed Latin America Stories.
However after years of negotiations starting in 2022, delegates from the gangs lastly reached a deal in December, agreeing to a ceasefire.
Moreno credited the take care of lowering homicides by 56% within the final three months of 2024.
However he admitted that the killings nonetheless proceed, with 17 recorded in January. The lawyer blamed the Colombian Gaitanist Military (EGC), Colombia’s largest armed group which controls most of Quibdó.
He mentioned the EGC, also called the Gulf Clan, didn’t participate within the ceasefire negotiations and continues to make use of violence and terror to extend its management.
“Right this moment, the Gulf Clan needs to enter Quibdó and take it over fully,” mentioned Moreno.
Regardless of the threats posed by the EGC, the negotiator maintained the ceasefire has had a big influence.
“If we hadn’t signed the truce… the variety of deaths can be double, 40 or many extra,” mentioned Moreno.
Whereas not all of the gangs in Quibdó signed the truce, people who did embody Los Mexicanos, the biggest native prison group within the metropolis with some 300 members.
The ceasefire’s two-month extension in January was seen as a optimistic signal by native leaders, however additionally they inform Latin America Stories that the truce stays fragile.
“The discussions, as has already occurred, can break down at any second. That’s what occurred in 2024… the truce was lifted and murder skyrocketed,” mentioned Francisco Vidal, Chocó’s Secretary of Authorities and the Inside.
Whereas life goes on in Quibdó, there’s an underlying nervousness that the scenario might shortly devolve to the way it was earlier than the truce.
“Quibdó is a strain cooker… individuals nonetheless stay in concern in lots of neighbourhoods, the overwhelming majority of them,” mentioned the Bishop.
To make issues worse, a change within the authorities’s delegation threatens to derail negotiations.
Moreno defined that, regardless of the success of earlier negotiations, the nationwide authorities has appointed an entire new group to renew discussions with gangs.
He fearful that the progress made and the belief fashioned between gang representatives and the earlier negotiators will likely be misplaced.
Moreno additionally mentioned that if the brand new delegation makes an attempt to alter its technique, it might danger destroying the delicate truce.
“In the event that they arrive with a special method and alter what has been taking place to this point, the negotiating desk will likely be damaged. And the truce won’t be signed. And violence will enhance in Quibdó,” warned the negotiator.
Given the unpredictability of gang violence within the metropolis, group leaders look to social packages as a long-term answer.
Sidelined from the negotiating desk, Moreno has turned his efforts to offering alternatives to at-risk youths, supporting recycling and garment-making initiatives.
“What we have now tried to do is to present them alternate options to the battle in order that they will stay in higher situations,” mentioned the lawyer.
In the meantime, the Bishop of Chocó focuses on offering religious help to the group.
“I’m certain that this darkish night time will go. All the time, after a really darkish night time, a brilliant new day seems,” mentioned Mosquera.
Featured picture description: A bullet gap within the window of the Chocó Secretary of Schooling’s workplace.
Featured picture credit score: Alfie Pannell
