The Clan del Golfo, Colombia’s most powerful drug-trafficking gang, expressed on Tuesday a more positive stance against the possibility of resuming negotiations with the government of President Gustavo Petros. The said talks were suspended long ago because of attacks by its members against civilians and security forces.

In a statement, the criminal organization said that they accept the President’s invitation to sit at the table and negotiate the political terms that will allow social transformations, confirming that they are ready to head to a new direction, added the text dated March 18. The authenticity of the text was confirmed by a criminologist who represents the Klan, Ricardo Giraldo.

Members of the Klan should in any case be held accountable to justice, the head of state warned, saying that he has already asked the new Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo, to prepare the relevant legal framework.

In March 2023, Mr. Petros ended the first negotiations with the gang, accusing it of continuing its criminal activities and attacks against civilians and security forces in the north, parts of which are its strongholds.

The negotiations were never formalized or actually started. The day before yesterday, Colombia’s President warned that if the gang members refuse to talk again, the government’s decision is to destroy the Klan, which, according to estimates by the Colombian military intelligence service, has about 4,000 members.

The cartel, also known by the acronym AGC (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia), insists that authorities treat it as a political organization, like the rebels conducting peace negotiations with Bogotá. The gang had rejected the terms of the original plan proposed by the President, which called for their surrender and disarmament in exchange for more favorable treatment from justice.

According to official estimates, the Clan del Golfo cartel accounts for 30% to 60%, roughly 700 tons, of the total cocaine exports of Colombia, which ranks first in the world in terms of production of this drug. The gang is also linked to illegal mining and human trafficking, smuggling immigrants along the border with Panama, through the Darien jungle.

The until 2021 leader of the gang, the so-called “Othoniel”, was arrested in October of that year and extradited in May 2022 to the USA, where he was sentenced to serve 45 years in prison, following a sentence merger.

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