An investigation presented today on the presence of armed groups in Colombia highlighted that the intention of these armed structures responds to the call made by President Gustavo Petro to ‘accept legal benefits in exchange for peace, for the definitive non-repetition of violence, to work as owners of a prosperous but legal economy that puts an end to the regions’ backwardness’.

Indepaz added that at least 10 other groups announced a unilateral ceasefire, according to peace commissioner Danilo Rueda.

‘The so-called Total Peace results as a concept that is not only circumscribed to the dialogued solution of armed conflicts, it also includes the fulfillment of the 2016 Peace Agreement and the monitoring of the recommendations of the Truth Commission,’ Indepaz pointed out.

It also ‘seeks to break with the logic of what have been the peace processes in Colombia so far (…) the dialogue or negotiations will be accompanied by prominence in the territories of the communities, it added.

It included a strategy of diplomacy for peace; and above all the construction of a social and political National Agreement for democratic changes and equity, the research, called Report on the presence of armed groups in Colombia 2021-2022, added.

In the study, the non-governmental organization defines nine focal points of the armed conflict in Colombia: Troncal Caribe, Norte de Santander, Arauca, Choco and UrabA Antioqueño, SerranIa De San Lucas, Cauca and Sur del Valle, Putumayo, Costa Pacífica Nariñense and TriAngulo del TelembI, Urbano-Ciudades.

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