Colombian bishops offer president-elect support in tackling narco criminal gangs
The National Police has recently become the target of attacks by criminal gangs with 36 police officers killed and more than 60 injured this year
Catholic bishops in Colombia have expressed concern over the increasing loss of members of the police force in their fight against narco-criminal groups, ahead of the Aug. 7 power transfer from a conservative president to a left-leaning one.
"We express our most sincere condolences for the loss of many members of the National Police," the bishops said in a July 27 letter issued by the Colombian Bishops' Conference to General Jorge Luis Vargas Valencia, Director General of the National Police.
“We want to extend these sentiments to all the families of the police officers who fell in the line of duty,” they said.
More than 36 police officers have been killed and more than 60 injured so far this year while fighting criminal organizations like the Rastrojos and the Caparrapos, and the most dreaded Urabeños also known as the Clan del Golfo (Gulf Clan).
President-elect Gustavo Petro has expressed his willingness to hold talks with criminal groups by suggesting a bilateral ceasefire, ahead of negotiations. Petro, the first left-wing president in the history of the country, promises to bring about deep social, economic and political change.
"We wish to renew our gratitude for the selfless dedication of all the members of the police who, in the different regions and territories of our dear Colombian nation, constitute an institutional presence", the bishops wrote to General Vargas.
The assassination of the prosecutor in charge of drug cases, Marcelo Daniel Pecci Albertini, on May 11 was seen as part of an effort by criminal gangs to gain more bargaining power.
Pecci was killed while he was on his honeymoon in Barú, a tourist island in Colombia. Pecci was dealing with court cases related to drug trafficking organizations.
Convened by the Military Ordinariate, the Colombian Church held a prayer meeting to "pray the Lord for the National Police and for a country at peace and reconciled".
FIDES quoted Military Ordinariate Bishop Víctor Manuel Ochoa Cadavid, saying in a message: "Each fallen policeman is a brother, a son, a father, a Colombian. We cannot continue counting, we must on the contrary cry out to the sky for this situation to end.”
"Each fallen policeman is a brother, a son, a father, a Colombian"
In recent weeks, the National Police have become the target of attacks by the criminal gangs of the "Gulf Clan" in response to the extradition of their leader and others.
According to police, the Clan is offering up to $5,000 for each murder of a member of the police force. This tactic is reminiscent of late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 1990s as part of his "pistol plan" open war against the state power apparatus.
After a seven-year manhunt, the leader of the Gulf Clan, Dairo Antonio Úsuga David (alias Otoniel), was captured last October and was extradited to the US to face drug charges. In April, Colombia's Supreme Court approved the extradition.
Three of his accomplices -- Yonny Cano Linares, Camilo Henrique Hernández Torres, and Jorge Eliecer Castaño Toro — will shortly be sent to the United States on drug trafficking charges.
As Colombia's most wanted man, Otoniel carried a reward of $800,000 for information about his whereabouts, while the United States had placed a $5m bounty on his head.
Otoniel was held in north-western Colombia in October, close to the border with Panama, by 500 soldiers supported by 22 helicopters.
In Colombia, the drug lord is charged with homicide, recruitment of minors, kidnapping, and terrorism.
Conservative outgoing President Iván Duque has compared Otoniel to the notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
The Gulf Clan traffics 200 tons of cocaine annually, according to Colombian authorities; and the gang is responsible for 60 percent of all the cocaine originating from Colombia -- the world's largest producer of the drug.
The Gulf Clan is active in many provinces and enjoys extensive international connections.
Besides drug and people smuggling, illegal gold mining and extortion are part of its business empire, comprising about 1,800 armed members. It virtually controls almost all routes used to smuggle drugs from Colombia to the United States, and even to far away Russia.
The criminal gangs like the Gulf Clan are getting their strategy ready to face the incoming government.
It is believed the Gulf Clan would take time to recover after the extradition of Otoniel, but the group came out with an armed strike that paralyzed extensive parts of Colombia for four days soon after the action against Otoniel.
In a July 19 letter, several major Colombian criminal groups, including the Gulf Clan, informed Petro of their interest in entering talks with the new government.
“We are willing to talk and reconcile, with the aim of stopping the cyclical violence that some of us control," they said in the letter.