Kidnapped, shot, murdered; Guerrillas are still in charge in Colombia

Wilted white roses hang limply in front of a wooden cross along the road. Next to a stone plaque with names there are half-burned candles. Last month, twenty-one passengers were killed in an attack on a bus at this location. It was broad daylight when a bomb exploded here along the Pan-American Highway between Cali and Popayán in southwestern Colombia, triggering the bloodiest attack in a long time.

Colombian authorities immediately pointed to the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest remaining dissident group of the former guerrilla movement FARC. They refused to sign the peace agreement with the Colombian government in 2016 and continued the armed struggle. Since then, the group has been active in several departments in Colombia, especially in the Cauca region and Valle del Cauca (Cauca Valley).

In the run-up to the presidential elections this Sunday, violence has been increasing sharply for months. Almost every day there are attacks involving the use of drones and explosives. Many civilians are affected, including Vivian Tejada’s three aunts who died. They had just returned from their cousin’s funeral when the bomb exploded on the bus. “Some family members went by car, my aunts went by bus,” says Tejada.

Tejada is a lawyer and lives in Popayán, the capital of the Cauca department. She recently moved to a secure residential complex. The boxes have not yet been unpacked, because Tejada cannot bring herself to decorate her house due to the sadness. One of the aunts killed, Patricia Mosquera, was a respected Afro-Colombian social leader and human rights activist. “She was like a second mother to me. She made me study law. I saw how important her work was for the community, how she tried to fight the armed conflict. It is tragic that she and everyone else have now become victims of it.”

In addition to the EMC, Cauca is home to a proliferation of numerous breakaway dissident and paramilitary groups, militias and cartels such as the Clan del Golfo, Jaime Martinez’s front, the ELN. An estimated six to seven thousand guerrillas are waging a bloody battle in the hills here, mainly for territory and power. It is about control over the coca trade and the profitable gold mines with which they can finance their struggle, especially now that the gold price is so high.

Politicians are also threatened or murdered; last year, right-wing presidential candidate Miguel Uribe was shot in the head during a campaign rally and died. Aida Quilcué, running mate of left-wing presidential candidate Iván Cepeda and the first native in this position, was briefly kidnapped by the EMC in February.

Armed gangs

This morning there are again several outbreaks of violence in and around Popayán, one of which not far from the bus attack, again along the same Pan-American Highway. With the attacks, the guerrillas want to show that they are a force that everyone must take into account. Whoever wins the election, you will have to deal with us. Analysts think it is also intimidation towards the local population: pay attention to who you vote for.

Meanwhile, both left and right accuse each other of allowing themselves to be intimidated and bribed by armed gangs. The right-wing opposition is using the violence to harshly criticize Colombia’s left-wing government, and in particular President Gustavo Petro. He is said not to have done enough to curb violence during his reign. The right suspects him of being under the influence of the guerrillas.

When Petro came to power in 2022, he was the first left-wing president of Colombia, unique for a country where the left had until then always been associated with guerrilla groups such as FARC or ELN. Moreover, Petro himself had a past as a guerrilla; Until the 1990s he was part of the then demobilized guerrilla movement M-19. After the attack on the bus last month, Petro accused the guerrillas of playing into the hands of the right and serving the most right-wing political interests.

False promises, money and prestige

“Violence in Colombia, especially around elections, has always existed,” says Tejada, looking at photos of her three aunts. “Petro took over power from right-wing President Duque. He was not in favor of the peace agreement, did little to implement the agreements made. For example, programs should be implemented to integrate the former FARC fighters into society, to let them work and build a new future. But a lot went into difficult among the right, when the growth of the guerrilla began.”

This growth has led to the large-scale recruitment of young people and even children by the guerrilla, especially within indigenous groups and Afro-Colombian communities, in remote areas where the government is often absent and the guerrilla comes with false promises, money and prestige. Young people are also forced to cooperate.

Emilse Jiménez, founder of Movimento de Madres y Mujeres por la Paz (Organization of Mothers and Women for Peace), opens her laptop and scrolls past several Facebook profiles of young boys in camouflage clothing and with guns. It is scorching hot in Cali, the third largest city in Colombia, located in a valley where the Cauca River flows. “Look at these pages, all young people recruited by EMC,” she says.

Together with other women, Jiménez tries to get these types of young people and children out of the hands of the guerrilla. Her 15-year-old nephew was recruited by the guerrilla in 2023 from a village three hours outside Cali. “Guerrillas had been hiding near his school for months, where they accosted young people and promised them all kinds of things. Once they come along, they never get away,” she says. Jiménez and her team organize searches and scour the internet in the hope of finding a trace of the disappeared boys. She has once been in contact with someone within EMC and tried to get her nephew released. “That didn’t work then, and the last thing “What I know is that he must be in the Nariño department. We heard through the grapevine that he was shot because he wanted to flee, I don’t know how he is,” she sighs.

Funeral for victims of a deadly attack that Colombian authorities say was carried out by FARC dissidents.

Her life has also been marked by the loss of her daughter Jessica, an important leader within the Afro-Colombian community who was murdered at the age of 28. After Jiménez went looking for her daughter’s body, Jessica was found buried alive and still conscious. “We rushed her to the hospital where she ended up in intensive care, but later died.”

She tries to convert her sadness into action. “I raise my voice, tell my story and do everything I can to get young people out of the hands of the guerrilla. In collaboration with various organizations, we were recently able to free an 18-year-old boy from the hands of EMC. He is now in a recovery program and will hopefully be able to go back to school soon.” The fact that she herself is in danger and threatened by the guerrilla does not stop her. “I will not get my daughter back, but as long as I live I will open my mouth and not let myself be killed.” keep quiet,” says Jiménez.

Poverty decreased

The vicious circle of violence that has gripped the 53 million Colombians for so long is an important theme in these elections. The left, with Ivan Cepeda as candidate, the successor to President Gustavo Petro who can no longer stand for election, is leading in the polls. The fact that poverty and unemployment have fallen in recent years is attributed to Petro’s policies; an increase in the minimum wage increased purchasing power.

The two right-wing parties that follow Cepeda in the polls rely mainly on the promise of a safer Colombia. The ultra-right Abelardo de la Espriella, also known as ‘El Tigre’, has the most radical ideas. His role model is the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. Following his example, De la Espriella promises that if he becomes president, he will build ten mega-prisons in the jungle to lock up cartel members and guerrillas.

In the center of Cali, where residents walk around the Emrita church on a cool afternoon, some are open to this ruthless approach. “The violence is so deeply rooted in our society that only a very tough solution is possible,” says Jose Wilmar, a retired manager. His wife nods. “We want security in our country. The approach of recent years has failed,” she says.

The left-wing candidate Cepeda would prefer to continue on the path that his predecessor and current president Petro promised: paz totalor total peace. In addition to further implementation of the 2016 peace agreement, efforts should also be made to reach an agreement on demobilization with other armed guerrilla groups such as ELN.

Tejada’s aunt Patricia Mosquera was a strong supporter of the peace agreement before she was killed in the bus attack. “I would like to continue to believe in that ambitious peace plan, just like my aunt,” she says. “Now I mainly feel sadness and fear, but I hope that optimism will return.”