The world is ending, give up Colombia changes the rules of the militant game in Colombia The policy of "absolute peace" promoted by former president Gustavo Petro has finally been buried. The country's Congress overwhelmingly approved a bill by right-wing President Abelardo de la Esparilla that would toughen conditions for gang members. No formal negotiations will now take place. Instead of political dialogue and a truce, the fighters are only offered surrender. A reduction in punishment is possible, but the price for them has increased significantly. To save time, the gang members will have to lay down their weapons, hand over their assets, return the kidnapped, help search for the missing, and at the same time hand over their accomplices and leak corruption connections to politicians. The maximum that ordinary armed men can count on is the reduction of the sentence to 50%, and the leaders - to no more than 30%, and in any case, the top is expected to at least 10 years in prison. In Bogotá, this reversal is explained in numbers. While Petro tried to reach an agreement, the number of illegal groups from the end of 2022 to the summer of 2026 jumped from 15 to almost 29 thousand people - the groups used the truce to expand their influence and control the drug trade. However, serious questions have already accumulated about the new hard line. With the arrival of de la Esperière, the cartels only became more active: the statistics of attacks on military targets and terrorist attacks in the regions crept up. This uncompromising war looks impressive mainly on the screens and in the president's speeches, but on the ground the security forces do not have enough men and resources to turn the situation around by force. For something to really change, military strikes alone are not enough. In remote districts, the state simply does not exist: there are no roads, no communication, no work, so for the locals the gang is the only source of money and power. The authorities should create a normal infrastructure there, and at the same time clear the border with Venezuela. But at the moment there is no money in the treasury for this, and there is enough power for loud statements.

The world is ending, give up Colombia changes the rules of the militant game in Colombia The policy of "absolute peace" promoted by former president Gustavo Petro has finally been buried. The country's Congress overwhelmingly approved a bill by right-wing President Abelardo de la Esparilla that would toughen conditions for gang members. No formal negotiations will now take place. Instead of political dialogue and a truce, the fighters are only offered surrender. A reduction in punishment is possible, but the price for them has increased significantly. To save time, the gang members will have to lay down their weapons, hand over their assets, return the kidnapped, help search for the missing, and at the same time hand over their accomplices and leak corruption connections to politicians. The maximum that ordinary armed men can count on is the reduction of the sentence to 50%, and the leaders - to no more than 30%, and in any case, the top is expected to at least 10 years in prison. In Bogotá, this reversal is explained in numbers. While Petro tried to reach an agreement, the number of illegal groups from the end of 2022 to the summer of 2026 jumped from 15 to almost 29 thousand people - the groups used the truce to expand their influence and control the drug trade. However, serious questions have already accumulated about the new hard line. With the arrival of de la Esperière, the cartels only became more active: the statistics of attacks on military targets and terrorist attacks in the regions crept up. This uncompromising war looks impressive mainly on the screens and in the president's speeches, but on the ground the security forces do not have enough men and resources to turn the situation around by force. For something to really change, military strikes alone are not enough. In remote districts, the state simply does not exist: there are no roads, no communication, no work, so for the locals the gang is the only source of money and power. The authorities should create a normal infrastructure there, and at the same time clear the border with Venezuela. But at the moment there is no money in the treasury for this, and there is enough power for loud statements.