De la Espriella Ends Peace Talks With Groups He Says Lack Will for Peace

Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella has ended peace negotiations with three armed groups, saying there is no real commitment to peace behind the talks.

The decision affects the Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frente, or EMBF, and the Coordinadora Nacional Ejército Bolivariano, or CNEB, both dissident factions of the former FARC guerrilla movement. It also applies to the paramilitary Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada, known as the ACSN.

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I have made 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.

De la Espriella revoked the appointments of government representatives and withdrew recognition from the opposing delegates on Friday. In a televised address, he said the groups had shown no credible willingness to reintegrate into civilian life or submit seriously to Colombia’s justice system.

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The surrender of the exercise of sovereignty in favor of narco-terrorism.

The president sharply criticized the negotiations associated with former President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” policy, calling them “the surrender of the exercise of sovereignty in favor of narco-terrorism.” He said peace could not be used as an excuse for impunity or allow dialogue tables to shelter groups that continued violence and criminal activity.

The EMBF split from the Estado Mayor Central, the largest FARC dissident group, in 2024 after rejecting the continuation of peace talks with Petro’s government. The CNEB emerged from a division within another dissident organization, the Segunda Marquetalia, and includes the Coordinadora Guerrillera del Pacífico and Comandos de Frontera.

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I will not allow the word peace to continue being used as an excuse for impunity, nor will I allow a dialogue table to become a refuge for those who persist in violence and criminality.

Petro’s policy also involved talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, and negotiations with FARC dissidents, as well as efforts to bring criminal groups such as the Clan del Golfo before the justice system. Several of those talks were suspended after Petro cited a lack of peace will. De la Espriella said those who remain involved in armed crime “will find the full legitimate capacity of the state” opposing them.

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My conception of peace is clear: peace is guaranteed and imposed through the legitimate force of arms and the laws of the republic, under the rule of law.