Colombia’s new government: 2016 deal with rebel group has not brought peace — but 132,000 killings

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Colombia’s new government told the United Nations on Monday that over 132,000 people have been killed and armed group membership has increased from 6,000 to almost 30,000 in the decade since the country signed a highly touted peace agreement with its largest rebel group.

Addressing the Security Council for the first time, Foreign Minister Omar Bula said “the ideological and international promotion of the peace agreement as an exemplary event worthy of emulation is not borne out by the figures” — and said lasting peace remains elusive and a challenge for conservative President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was inaugurated in August.

The government’s figures could not be independently verified.

The peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, ended more than 50 years of war in which more than 220,000 people died and nearly 6 million were displaced. In the aftermath, an estimated 14,000 fighters laid down their weapons.

But Bula said that in addition to the 132,930 people “murdered in Colombia” between the July 2016 signing and August 2026, nearly 100,000 cases of extortion and more than 2,750 kidnappings have been recorded throughout the country.

Today, he said, Colombia is facing not only its largest remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army, but also the Clan del Golfo cartel, dozens of factions of the former FARC rebels and regional and transnational criminal networks.

The groups have also expanded their fights for territorial control, “subjugating communities and controlling strategic corridors through violence, extortion, and illicit economies,” Bula said. Drug trafficking, a key driver of the criminal activity, has also reached “unprecedented levels worldwide,” and in 2023 coca production in Colombia surged by over 50%.

De la Espriella, a Colombian-American citizen who calls himself “The Tiger” and supports U.S. President Donald Trump, has pledged to tackle the persistent violence in Colombia by breaking with leftist former President Gustavo Petro’s policy of negotiating with armed groups, arguing that the peace process has failed.

In the 60 days since de la Espriella became president, Bula said, security forces reported 32,029 arrests, the seizure of over 135 tons of narcotic drugs and the removal of 3,414 firearms from circulation.

The president also signed 119 extradition orders aimed at dismantling international drug rings and transnational organized crime in Colombia. He has also been dealing with a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck on Aug. 13, five days after his inauguration.

“The aim of these actions is to regain control over land, to weaken armed groups and their sources of financing, and to restore the presence and authority of the state in areas where criminal organizations have sought to substitute it,” he said.

Colombia’s top diplomat said these efforts underscore the government’s commitment to restore state control, a key policy that — along with ensuring security and justice — is a precondition to build sustainable peace.

The Security Council has been monitoring the 2016 peace accord at the government’s request and Bula said its implementation remains a commitment. The mandate for the U.N. verification mission expires Oct. 31.