Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has suspended a ceasefire with the country’s largest drug cartel. He instructed the security forces to “resume all military operations once morest the Gulf clan,” Petro said on Twitter on Sunday. The clan is said to be responsible for attacks on villagers in the northwest of the country. “I will not allow them to spread fear and terror in the community,” Petro said.
At the end of last year, the government announced a ceasefire with several armed groups, including the Gulf clan, rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissidents from the dissolved left-wing rebel organization FARC. It was the first step in a “comprehensive peace” plan to end decades of armed conflict through negotiations. However, this caused problems for the police almost immediately.
The ELN denied the existence of the ceasefire – whereupon the Colombian government suspended it in view of the group. The government accused the FARC dissidents of repeatedly violating the ceasefire.
According to the government, the Gulf clan has been supporting attacks by illegal gold diggers in the Bajo Cauca area in the Antioquia department since the beginning of March. Workers in illegal gold mines protested once morest the government’s destruction of heavy machinery. The miners blocked roads and attacked a city hall and bank in the Caucasia district.
According to the authorities, criminal gangs in Colombia make almost as much money from illegal mining as from the cocaine trade. Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and according to official estimates, the Gulf clan is responsible for 30 to 60 percent of drug exports.