Editorial, EL ESPECTADOR, April 20, 2025
https://www.elespectador.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-de-acuerdo-la-paz-no-se-mendiga/
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
Colombia is at war. That’s not a new diagnosis of course, we haven’t stopped being in conflict, in spite of all the administrations and the historic Peace Agreement with the FARC in 2016. Nevertheless, for the first time since President Gustavo Petro arrived at the Presidential Palace, it seems as though the administration has changed its tune. The open hand with which the Government of Change arrived has been replaced by an Armed Forces that has been producing impressive results in recent weeks. On his X account (formerly Twitter), the President admitted that his generosity with the “Total Peace” projects allowed the reorganization and fortification of the criminal groups. Will the new offensive serve to improve security and government presence?
The rhetoric is everything. To demonstrate, there’s a painful example. As a presidential candidate in 2021, Petro said, “In three months of being President, there will be no more ELN in Colombia, because we’ll make peace.” He tried to, with a peace delegation built to reach a historic accord with the guerrillas, but the response was intransigence. Now, at the end of this week, the President made use of other terms. “I’m not interested in total failure; I’m interested in total peace. War is total failure. But my personal and strategic love for peace should not be taken for naiveté. If they think that, they’re mistaken,” he said. And he added that the guerrillas have chosen the road to crucifixion.
What with one declaration and another, two and a half years of government went by, with one Defense Minister concentrating on eradication of corruption, but with few operational results, an increase in the presence of criminal groups in the country, a crisis in Catatumbo, and public insolence against the President by criminals like Iván Mordisco. The President came late to the realization that they were right who from the beginning remembered the reality learned through bloodshed: if the government doesn’t make use of its power, the peace dialogs aren’t going anywhere and the ceasefires become obstacles for the authorities. Very much in spite of all Colombia, the President came to make peace but will end his term making war. He was forced to end up that way.
The problem is that the conflict changed. The criminals now are not (all) in the jungle. Instead, they are living in the midst of the civilian population, not wearing camouflage, and with strong ties to local criminality. Their battles are among each other; their objectives are not political, but financial, i.e., to control the drug trafficking routes, obtain complicity from regional authorities, and be the dictators of their parcels of our national territory. Faced with that, our Army and Police have strategic goals in intelligence and capability. Colombia is at war, but it’s not the same war, and the citizens’ frustration is evident.
So the news of recent weeks is welcome. At the closing of this edition, General Carlos Fernando Triana, Director of the National Police, announced the capture of alias Robledo, who was close to Mordisco. The leader of the Central Command Staff is surrounded. El Paisa was killed a few weeks ago, and at least 20 of the other criminals have been killed. The Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez, summed up the administration’s new position, “Peace is possible, but you don’t beg for it.” And that’s the way it is. No dialogs are possible without security.