Colombia reactivates arrest warrants for 46 members of groups that negotiated peace

Colombia has reactivated arrest warrants for 46 members of three armed groups after President Abelardo de la Espriella ended peace talks with the organizations.

Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo reinstated warrants for 27 members of the FARC dissident group Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frentes, or EMBF, including its leader, alias Calarcá. The measure also covers 13 members of the Coordinadora Nacional del Ejército Bolivariano, or CNEB, and six members of the paramilitary Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada, or ACSN.

The Fiscalía said the warrants had been suspended while the groups' representatives held official negotiating status. That benefit ended after the government terminated the talks on Aug. 28 and revoked the designation of the groups' spokespeople.

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The measure responds to the termination of the dialogue tables with these groups, decided by the national government on Aug. 28, and the subsequent revocation of the designation of their spokespeople, which ends the suspension benefit covering these warrants.

De la Espriella confirmed the decision on Sunday, saying the organizations had not demonstrated a genuine willingness to make peace. “I have taken this decision because there is no real and verifiable willingness for peace, much less for reintegration into civilian life or serious submission to justice that would justify maintaining them,” he said.

The EMBF was part of the Estado Mayor Central, the main dissident group from the former FARC guerrilla organization, before breaking away in 2024 over its refusal to continue peace talks with Gustavo Petro's government. The CNEB emerged from a split within another dissident group, Segunda Marquetalia, and includes the Coordinadora Guerrillera del Pacífico and Comandos de Frontera.

The decision marks another setback for Petro's “total peace” policy, which also involved talks with the National Liberation Army and the Estado Mayor Central. Those negotiations were suspended by Petro over what he called a lack of willingness for peace. The policy also sought the submission to justice of criminal groups such as Clan del Golfo, but produced few results, according to the report.

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I have taken this decision because there is no real and verifiable willingness for peace, much less for reintegration into civilian life or serious submission to justice that would justify maintaining them.