Clan del Golfo, the strongest gang of drug traffickers of Colombia, yesterday Tuesday opened the door to the possibility of resuming negotiations with the president’s government Gustavo Petros, which were discontinued some time ago due to attacks by its members against civilians and security forces.

“We accept the president’s invitation to sit at the table and… negotiate the political terms that will enable social transformations,” the criminal organization said in a statement.

“We reaffirm that we are ready to go wherever we are directed,” added the text, which is dated March 18 and whose authenticity was confirmed by a criminologist who represents the Klan, Ricardo Giraldo.

“The ball is in its court” regarding the resumption of talks, President Petros ruled yesterday Monday. “If they dare, let’s sit at the negotiating table,” he continued, accusing the gang of once again devoting itself “to extortion, drug and immigrant trafficking.”

Members of the Klan should in any case be held accountable “to justice,” the head of state warned, saying he has already asked the new attorney general, Luz Adriana Camargo, to prepare the legal framework for this.

In March 2023, Mr. Petro buried the first negotiations with the gang, accusing it of continuing its criminal activities and attacks against civilians and security forces in the north, parts of which are its strongholds.

The negotiations were never formalized or actually started. The day before yesterday, Colombia’s president warned that if gang members refuse to negotiate again, the government’s “decision” is to “destroy the Klan,” an organization which — according to estimates by the Colombian military’s intelligence service — has about 4,000 members. .

The cartel, also known by the acronym AGC (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia), insists that authorities treat it as a political organization, like the rebels conducting peace negotiations with Bogotá.

The gang had rejected the terms of the original plan proposed by the president. The plan called for their surrender and disarmament, in exchange for more favorable treatment from justice.

Media reported yesterday Tuesday that members of the Klan blocked roads near the community of Tieralta (northwest), where President Petros intended to go to attend a social event.

According to official estimates, the Clan del Golfo cartel accounts for 30% to 60%—roughly 700 tons—of all cocaine exports from Colombia, the world’s number one producer of the drug. The gang is also linked to illegal mining and human trafficking, smuggling migrants along the border with Panama, through the Darien jungle.

The until 2021 leader of the gang, the so-called “Othoniel”, was arrested in October of that year and extradited in May 2022 to the USA, where he was sentenced to serve 45 years in prison after merging the sentences imposed on him.