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Colombia Suspends Ceasefire With Drug Cartel

News

March 21, 2023

President Gustavo Petro on Sunday suspended a ceasefire with Colombia’s biggest drug trafficking group, accusing it of attacking civilians.

In a statement released on Twitter, Petro said he ordered the security forces to resume all military operations against the Gulf Clan, and will not allow them keep sowing distress and terror in the communities.

The government says the clan is behind harassment and attacks on people in northwest Colombia over the past two weeks.

Just before the New Year, Petro’s government declared a bilateral ceasefire with several armed groups, including the Gulf Clan, National Liberation Army rebels and dissidents of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas.

It was a first step in leftist Petro’s “total peace” plan to end decades of armed conflict through negotiation with criminal groups, as opposed to the hard-line approach taken by his conservative predecessor Ivan Duque.