{"id":12550,"date":"2026-02-18T00:50:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12550"},"modified":"2026-02-18T00:50:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:50:43","slug":"colombia-to-resume-peace-talks-with-ecg-after-temporary-suspension-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12550","title":{"rendered":"Colombia to resume peace talks with ECG after temporary suspension | Conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Colombia\u2019s largest criminal group paused talks after President Gustavo Petro pledged to target its leader, Chiquito Malo.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Colombia\u2019s government has announced it will resume peace talks with the powerful Gulf Clan, also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defence Forces (ECG), after the criminal group expressed concern about a recent deal with the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s announcement addresses a\u00a0temporary suspension the Gulf Clan announced earlier this month, in the wake of a meeting between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Faced with US pressure to crack down on drug cartels, Petro agreed to prioritise three \u201ckingpins\u201d his government considered \u201chigh-level targets\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>One of those targets was the leader of the Gulf Clan, Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, known as Chiquito Malo.<\/p>\n<p>The Gulf Clan responded by pausing talks with the Petro government until it received clarity on the scope of the government\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<p>In a joint statement on Tuesday, the two parties said they had \u201covercome\u201d any hurdles to the talks.<\/p>\n<p>They also explained that the ongoing talks would be mediated by the Catholic Church and the governments of Qatar, Spain, Norway and Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>The Gulf Clan is one of several armed groups that have jostled for control of territory as part of Colombia\u2019s six-decade-long internal conflict, which has pitted criminal groups, left-wing rebels, government forces and right-wing paramilitaries against each other.<\/p>\n<p>With approximately 9,000 fighters, the Gulf Clan is considered one of the country\u2019s largest cartels. The US designated it a \u201cforeign terrorist organisation\u201d in December.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has pushed the Petro government to take more aggressive action against drug trafficking overall. In January, he even threatened to attack Colombia, saying that Petro needed to \u201cwatch his a**\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But relations between the two leaders have warmed in recent weeks, particularly since Petro\u2019s visit to the White House on February 3.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, Colombian governments had taken a more militarised approach to addressing the country\u2019s internal conflict. Colombia has long been considered a top ally in the US\u2019s worldwide \u201cwar on drugs\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But upon taking office in 2022, Petro sought to take a different approach, bringing armed groups and criminal networks to the table for negotiations under a programme called \u201cTotal Peace\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The peace talks, however, have faced a series of setbacks, particularly in the wake of new bursts of violence.<\/p>\n<p>In January, for example, Petro granted himself emergency powers following an outbreak of violence near the border with Venezuela between various armed groups, including the National Liberation Army (ELN).<\/p>\n<p>That violence resulted in the suspension of peace talks with the ELN.<\/p>\n<p>Petro, the country\u2019s first left-wing president, has also faced pressure from the right to assure justice is carried out on behalf of the victims of drug trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>His government has repeatedly rejected allegations that it has not done enough to stem drug trafficking in Colombia, which has historically been the world\u2019s largest producer of cocaine.<\/p>\n<p>Petro has pointed to historic drug busts, including one in November that resulted in the seizure of 14 tonnes of cocaine, as evidence of his government\u2019s efficacy.<\/p>\n<p>Criminal networks and other groups have long jostled to gain control of drug-trafficking routes.<\/p>\n<p>Those clashes saw a spike after a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist rebel group that agreed to disarm in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The group\u2019s dissolution left a power vacuum that other drug-trafficking organisations have sought to fill.<\/p>\n<p>How to address Colombia\u2019s ongoing internal conflict is set to be a major election issue in May, when the country chooses a new president. Petro is limited by law to a single consecutive term and will therefore not be on the ballot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colombia\u2019s largest criminal group paused talks after President Gustavo Petro pledged to target its leader, Chiquito Malo. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info Colombia\u2019s government has announced it will resume peace talks with the powerful Gulf Clan, also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defence Forces (ECG), after the criminal group expressed concern about a recent deal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}