The United States’ Department of State designated Colombia’s largest paramilitary organization EGC as a foreign terrorist organization.
According to the State Department, the Ejercito Gaitanista de Colombia (EGC) is called “Clan del Golfo,” and is “a violent and powerful criminal organization with thousands of members.”
The group’s primary source of income is cocaine trafficking, which it uses to fund its violent activities. Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia.
State Department
The US State Department put the EGC’s predecessor, paramilitary organization AUC, on its list of foreign terrorist organizations in 2001 and removed it from the list after its formal demobilization between 2003 and 2006.
AUC members who abandoned the demobilization process formed what would become the EGC during this process and have tried to recreate their parent organization ever since.
According to the EGC, their rearmament was due to the breaking of promises made to the paramilitaries as part of a deal with the national government, which was led by former President Alvaro Uribe at the time.
Authorities currently believe that the EGC has some 9,000 members and is supported by a criminal network that is involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining and human trafficking.
The EGC has significant control over municipal governments in the Antioquia province, its stomping ground, and parts of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts.
The organization is also believed to maintain friendly ties with corrupt elements within the security forces, including top former commanders.
At the request of President Gustavo Petro, the government’s peace commissioner’s office began peace talks with the EGC earlier this year.
These talks are supposed to result in the demobilization of the AUC dissidents, the dismantling of its criminal network, and a transfer of power to State institutions in the regions where the EGC and the AUC have been the de facto government for decades.
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