Farewell to 'Total Peace': Petro ends negotiations with one of Colombia's largest guerrilla groups

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, terminated peace negotiations with one of the country's main guerrilla groups, led by Alexander Díaz, alias Calarcá' in a decision that deals a blow to his ambitious "Total Peace" policy.

The Colombian leftist had been holding talks since 2023 with the so-called Estado Mayor de Bloques, one of the largest dissidents of the former FARC guerrilla group who did not embrace the peace deal signed in 2016.

The rupture comes after alleged breaches by the armed group, which the government accuses of continuing with attacks against the security forces and the civilian population, in addition to maintaining illicit activities such as drug trafficking, extortion, illegal mining and deforestation.

During a meeting with his cabinet, Petro affirmed that he ordered to stop the talks as he considered that there were no minimum conditions to advance. "If they do not comply with the pacts and continue the attacks, there is no peace", said the president.

Blow to "Total Peace"

The negotiation with this dissidence was one of the central pillars of Petro's strategy to to dismantle all sources of armed violence in the country. In parallel, the government also faced setbacks or stalled talks in other dialogues, including attempts with the ELN guerrilla group and other dissident factions.

Analysts consider that these setbacks reflect the structural difficulties of negotiating with fragmented groups financed by illegal economies, in a country with more than six decades of armed conflict.