Colombia’s “Total Peace” Threatened in Buenaventura, Part of a Larger Collapse in Ambitious Security Plan
20 July 2024
Buenaventura: A “laboratory for peace”?
On March 6, the Colombian criminal group the Spartans walked away from the negotiating table with the Shottas, another criminal organization. Both groups are based in the city of Buenaventura, Colombia’s largest port on the Pacific coast and a major departure point in the Colombian drug trade. Known for its long history of gang conflict and militarization, the city is now the center of peace talks between the rival criminal groups and the Colombian government of President Gustavo Petro (Alsema, 2023; Quintero, 2023a; 2023b; Saffon, Acosta, and Shuldiner, 2023).
In the Spartans’ March 6 communique, the group explained its decision as a response to the alleged failure of the Shottas to compromise and honor their obligations within the peace process. The Spartans also alleged that the Shottas were establishing ties with the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s last major guerrilla group, to exercise greater control over the port (Cornejo, 2022; W Radio Colombia, 2024).
The Colombian delegation’s spokesperson Alejandro Ocampo responded with a statement reaffirming their commitment to peace, stating: “We call for the Shottas and the Spartans to continue with the advances made towards peace and tranquility within the community.”
The Shottas have not issued any statements in response to the Spartans’ withdrawal. The Spartans decided to withdraw from the peace negotiations a month after both groups agreed to extend a truce signed in August 2023. The truce followed the renewal of peace negotiations in Buenaventura in July, led by Colombia’s Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (Charrupí, 2024; Consejería Comisionada de Paz, 2023; “Peligra tregua en Buenaventura,” 2024).
The truce was scheduled to remain in effect until May 5, with the Spartans affirming that: “The temporary absence of our spokespeople at the negotiating tables of the peace process underway in Buenaventura is in no way a call to take up arms and commit violence in this city.” Ocampo confirmed that the truce would hold (Fundación Paz y Reconciliación, 2024; Ortiz, 2024; Presidencia de la República, 2023; “Se cierran las heridas entre Shottas y Espartanos,” 2024).
However, the prospect of lasting peace in Buenaventura remains tenuous. Like the criminal syndicates that preceded them, the Spartans and the Shottas have fought for control over the lucrative cocaine shipments passing through Buenaventura to the international market. Violence skyrocketed in the port city in 2021 when both groups emerged as offshoots of the former reigning cartel, La Local (Gorder, 2021; McDermott, 2019; Alsema, 2019; Arévalo, 2021).
Only in late 2022 did the turf wars between the two groups end when they agreed to participate in President Gustavo Petro’s ambitious policy of “Total Peace.” Petro’s Total Peace plan entered into law on November 4, 2022 with the passing of Law 2272 of 2022 (Garcia, 2022; Huffington and Torres, 2022; Valencia, 2022).
This policy seeks to resolve the long-running Colombian conflict by promoting peace talks. Buenaventura is a focal point of the Total Peace plan, with Petro’s government aiming to transform the city into a “laboratory of peace” (Vásquez, 2023).
Although the peace talks initially succeeded in substantially lowering homicide rates, the renewal of violence in 2023 and the Spartans’ withdrawal from the negotiating table threaten to disrupt Buenaventura’s delicate peace process—part of a larger breakdown in the Total Peace plan. For the moment, the prospects of lasting peace in Colombia remain uncertain.
Petro's Total Peace on the Brink
Buenaventura is not the only place where Gustavo Petro’s Total Peace plan has met setbacks; it is only one of the latest in a series of breakdowns throughout Petro’s presidency. One of the challenges of Petro’s ambitious peace strategy compared to his predecessors is its sheer scope; where it took the government of President Santos almost five years to negotiate a peace agreement with the FARC alone, Petro aimed to negotiate a lasting peace with over 20 armed groups during his presidency (Garcia and Posada, 2022).
However, although numerous armed groups have expressed their intent to participate in peace talks, real progress has largely been halting and ineffective. Halfway through his four-year term, Petro’s peace plan has failed to deliver substantial results. Some groups that formerly agreed to participate have since withdrawn their involvement (Saffon and Garcia, 2023). And in some parts of the country, violence has only escalated, forcing the state to cancel negotiations when armed groups have broken ceasefire agreements (Shuldiner and Loaiza, 2023).
In Colombian departments such as Cauca, Chocó, Nariño, Putumayo, and Norte de Santander—long among the most violent regions of the country—the armed conflict has spiraled in recent years. Much of the fighting has involved the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central: EMC), one of the largest FARC dissident organizations still operating following the formal dissolution of the FARC in 2016 (InSight Crime, 2023).
Several rounds of negotiations between the EMC and the government have been initiated and canceled following repeated violations of conditional agreements and ceasefires in Cauca and elsewhere. Similar challenges have plagued the government’s peace negotiation attempts with the ELN, Colombia’s largest remaining guerrilla group. Complicating matters is that the EMC and ELN are also in conflict with each other, as well as other guerrilla, paramilitary, and narcotrafficking groups. This context of constant, multi-sided conflict appears to pose intractable problems for Petro’s faltering security policy, raising doubts about both armed groups’ commitment to peace and the government’s ability to effectively negotiate with them (Shuldiner and Loaiza, 2023; Shuldiner and Saffon, 2024).
The recent breakdown in negotiations between the two most powerful criminal groups in Buenaventura, itself one of Colombia’s largest and most strategically important port cities and a major nexus in the transnational drug trade, took place against the backdrop of the broader collapse of Petro’s ambitious Total Peace plan. With no sign of renewed peace talks in Buenaventura, and only two years left in Petro’s mandate, the future of Total Peace in Colombia remains uncertain. On balance, it appears that peace, if it comes, will be more partial than total.
Works Cited (Chicago author-date)
Alsema, Adriaan. 2021. “The wars for Colombia’s cocaine containers | Part 1: Buenaventura.” Colombia Reports, September 2. https://colombiareports.com/amp/the-wars-for-colombias-cocaine-containers-part-1-buenaventura/.
———. 2023. “Colombia’s drug trade.” Colombia Reports, January 12. https://colombiareports.com/colombia-drug-trafficking/.
Arévalo, Nicolás Sánchez. 2021. “La Local, una banda armada que impone el silencio en Buenaventura.” El Espectador, January 9. https://www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/conflicto/la-local-una-banda-armada-que-impone-el-silencio-en-buenaventura-article/.
Charrupí, Juan Camilo. 2024. “Se extiende la tregua entre ‘Los Shottas’ y ‘Los Espartanos’ en Buenaventura.” Radio Nacional de Colombia, February 5. https://www.radionacional.co/noticias-colombia/tregua-entre-los-shottas-y-los-espartanos-ira-hasta-el-5-de-mayo.
Consejería Comisionada de Paz (@ComisionadoPaz). 2023. “#Atención | 🚨Comunicado: Con instalación del espacio de conversación sociojurídica avanza la paz en Buenaventura.” Twitter, July 3. https://x.com/ComisionadoPaz/status/1675935797499817988.
Cornejo, Adrian. 2022. “National Liberation Army (ELN).” The Modern Insurgent, October 13. https://www.moderninsurgent.org/post/national-liberation-army-eln.
Garcia, Sara. 2022. “Can Colombia’s Gustavo Petro Overcome Violent Challenge to ‘Total Peace’?” InSight Crime, September 6. https://insightcrime.org/news/colombia-gustavo-petro-violent-challenge-total-peace/.
Garcia, Sara and Juan Diego Posada. 2022. “GameChangers 2022: Could ‘Total Peace’ Lead to Disarmament of Colombia’s Armed Groups?” InSight Crime, December 28. https://insightcrime.org/news/gamechangers-2022-total-peace-disarmament-colombia-armed-groups/.
Gorder, Gabrielle. 2021. “Buenaventura’s Everlasting Cycle of Violence Continues in Colombia.” InSight Crime, March 4. https://insightcrime.org/news/violence-buenaventura-local-rift/.
Huffington, Dennis Arley and Ghina Catrillón Torres. 2022. “‘Shottas’ y ‘Espartanos’ inician diálogos con el Gobierno Nacional para sometimiento a la justicia.” Pares, October 21. https://www.pares.com.co/post/shottas-y-espartanos-inician-di%C3%A1logos-con-el-gobierno-nacional-para-sometimiento-a-la-justicia.
InSight Crime. 2023. “Central General Staff – Ex-FARC Mafia.” InSight Crime, February 16. https://insightcrime.org/colombia-organized-crime-news/ex-farc-mafia-central-general-staff/.
McDermott, Jeremy. 2019. “Op-Ed | Buenaventura: Cocaine Path of Least Resistance.” InSight Crime, April 19. https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/buenaventura-cocaine-path-least-resistance/.
Ocampo, Alejandro (@alejoocampog). 2024. “Comunicado de la delegación del gobierno para la conversación socio jurídica se paz en Buenaventura, sobre la decisión de los Espartanos de levantarse de la mesa de dialogo.” Twitter, March 6. https://x.com/alejoocampog/status/1765577670023152092.
Ortiz, Karen. 2024. “Tregua entre Espartanos y Shottas se ratificaría en las próximas horas.” Caracol Radio, March 8. https://caracol.com.co/2024/03/08/tregua-entre-espartanos-y-shottas-se-ratificaria-en-las-proximas-horas/.
“Peligra tregua en Buenaventura: Shottas y Espartanos se levantan de mesa de diálogos de paz con el Gobierno.” 2024. Semana, March 7. https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/peligra-tregua-en-buenaventura-shottas-y-espartanos-se-levantan-de-mesa-de-dialogos-de-paz-con-el-gobierno/202405/.
Presidencia de la República. 2023. “Estructuras armadas de Buenaventura prorrogan cese de la violencia hasta febrero de 2024.” Press release, November 5. https://petro.presidencia.gov.co/prensa/Paginas/Estructuras-armadas-de-Buenaventura-prorrogan-cese-de-la-violencia-hasta-febrero-de-2024-231105.aspx.
Quintero, Camilo Pardo. 2023a. “¿Quiénes son y cómo operan las bandas que siembran el terror en Buenaventura?” El Espectador, July 5. https://www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/paz-y-memoria/buenaventura-quienes-son-y-donde-estan-las-bandas-shottas-espartanos-chiquillos-o-roberts/.
———. 2023b. “Shottas y Espartanos: así es el entramado criminal y las alianzas entre bandas.” El Espectador, July 28. https://www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/conflicto/shottas-y-espartanos-alianzas-entre-bandas-criminales-en-buenaventura-dialogos-paz-total/.
Saffon, Sergio, Luisa Maria Acosta, and Henry Shuldiner. 2023. “In Strategic Colombian Port, Gangs Await Total Peace.” InSight Crime, October 12. https://insightcrime.org/news/gang-leader-promotes-peace-in-strategic-colombian-port/.
Saffon, Sergio and Sara Garcia. 2023. “GameChangers 2023: Unintended Consequences for Colombia’s ‘Total Peace.’” InSight Crime, December 29. https://insightcrime.org/news/gamechangers-2023-mistakes-total-peace-colombia-endanger-success/.
Shuldiner, Henry and Lara Loaiza. 2023. “Colombia’s Total Peace May Be Unraveling.” InSight Crime, November 7. https://insightcrime.org/news/colombia-total-peace-may-be-unraveling/.
Shuldiner, Henry and Sergio Saffon. 2024. “From Total to Partial Peace: Colombia’s Talks With Crime Groups Fragment.” InSight Crime, May 3. https://insightcrime.org/news/total-partial-peace-colombias-talks-crime-groups-fragment/.
Fundación Paz y Reconciliación. 2024. “Se cierran las heridas entre Shottas y Espartanos: tregua en Buenaventura se extiende hasta mayo.” Redacción Pares, February 6. https://www.pares.com.co/post/se-cierran-las-heridas-entre-shottas-y-espartanos-tregua-en-buenaventura-se-extiende-hasta-mayo.
Valencia, Germán. 2022. “La Paz Total busca ser política de Estado.” Pares, November 22. https://www.pares.com.co/post/la-paz-total-busca-ser-pol%C3%ADtica-de-estado.
Vásquez, Juan Pablo. 2023. “Terror returns to Colombian city meant to be a laboratory for Petro’s ‘total peace.’” El País, July 6. https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-07-06/terror-returns-to-colombian-city-meant-to-be-a-laboratory-for-petros-total-peace.html.
W Radio Colombia (@WRadioColombia). 2024. “#NoticiaW | El grupo delincuencial ‘Los Espartanos’ de Buenaventura se levanta de la mesa de diálogo con ‘Los Shottas’, alegando incumplimiento del Gobierno Nacional en la implementación de la Ley de Sometimiento.” Twitter, March 6. https://x.com/WRadioColombia/status/1765540235792744834.