Colombia: They deny suspending the arrest warrant for Clan del Golfo

BOGOTÁ (AP) — The Colombian prosecutor’s office did not agree to suspend the arrest warrants against the main leaders of the Clan del Golfo, in response to a formal request from the government that sought to lift them to facilitate peace talks with the cartel.

As the prosecutor’s office notified the government on Friday, in a document known to The Associated Press, there is no legal basis for suspending the arrest warrants of non-political armed groups, such as the Clan del Golfo —heir to paramilitaries and dedicated to drug trafficking— that it would be up to him to submit to justice and not to a peace process.

President Gustavo Petro—the first leftist to govern the country—has proposed opening negotiations with various armed groups on a new policy called “total peace.” Among them is the Clan del Golfo, with which the government assures that it has agreed to a bilateral ceasefire until June 2023.

The Clan del Golfo is the most feared drug trafficking group in Colombia whose top leader Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, known by the alias “Otoniel”, was extradited to the United States in 2022 and faces a drug trafficking case in Brooklyn federal court, where has pleaded not guilty.

After the capture of “Otoniel”, compared in importance by the government with that of the former capo Pablo Escobar, the Clan del Golfo continues to operate although it has faced internal divisions under the command of other leaders who were part of the circle close to “Otoniel”.

Among the most important, the authorities have identified Jobanís de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias “Chiquito Malo”, and José Gonzalo Sánchez, alias “Gonzalito”, for whom Colombia is offering a reward of up to 5,000 million pesos, that is, around a a million dollars.

The Associated Press learned of a document dated January 11 of this year in which the high commissioner for peace, Danilo Rueda, asked the prosecutor’s office on behalf of the government to suspend the arrest warrants against eight members of the Clan del Golfo “designated for exploratory approaches with the national government”.

This group includes “Chiquito Malo”, who is facing trials for homicide, forced displacement, and the use of minors for the commission of crimes. As well as “Gonzalito”, who registers processes for threats, displacement and conspiracy to commit a crime, among others. Both belonged to the paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia and submitted to an agreement with the courts in 2004, but later relapsed by joining the Clan del Golfo.

Other members of the Clan del Golfo who appear on the cartel of the most wanted by the authorities also appear on the government list, such as Alexander Celis Durango, known as “Bayron”, José Emilson Córdoba, alias “Negro Perea”, and José Miguel Demoya. Hernandez aka “Chirimoya”.

Authorities have pointed to the Clan del Golfo, also called Los Urabeños or Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, of having the capacity to traffic 20 tons of cocaine each month and export it to the United States and Europe.

The government has previously requested the lifting of arrest warrants for members of armed groups with which it is advancing rapprochements that have been approved by the prosecutor’s office. The most recent occurred on January 4 for three representatives of the self-styled “Central Staff”, a faction of the dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a guerrilla that the State fought for 50 years until the signing of a peace agreement in 2016.

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Goodman reported from Miami.

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