In the latest report of the Coexistence and Citizen Security Line of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, an assessment was made of criminal behavior in Colombia during 2023. The crimes that have increased are theft, extortion and kidnapping. Homicide remains at a plateau and increased a little over 1%, this increase occurred in the last 4 years. This is explained, according to this report that we will present below, by the consolidation of some groups in places like the Aburrá Valley where the control of The Office is total, even in the case of Itagui homicides dropped to 45%. If you no longer have anything to dispute the territory with, why do you kill? The same thing happens in Quibdó, one of the places in the country where homicide has dropped dramatically, in part thanks to the Urban Peace that they have decided to listen to.
In Chocó two gangs rule, the Locos Yam and the Mexicanos. Since July 2023, they have decided to sit down and talk with the national government, reaching some agreements since a negotiation table was set up on August 18, 2023. The event was attended by the Diocese of Istmina, the United Nations Verification Mission, the MAPP-OAS, the Government of Chocó, the Mayor’s Office of Quibdó and representatives of Norway, Sweden and Spain.
Since the rapprochement between the government and these gangs, which started in December 2022, there were indicators that things were on the right track, such as homicides being reduced by 54% in Quibdó. But, in addition to this, the fact that there are no territorial disputes with other gangs due to the consolidation of gangs such as the Mexicanos and the Locos Yam, could also be a reason for the reduction.
Mexicans are made up of young Chocoanos, whether indigenous or Afro-Colombian, victims of the armed conflict in Colombia, without opportunities, devastated by life. In a statement explaining their origins, the Mexicans stated, “From a very young age, they made us the main actors in an absurd war that we had no reason to live through.” Until the moment of the negotiation with the government, the Mexicans had a structure with 300 young people who controlled extortion in 192 neighborhoods of the capital of Chocó.
Chocó has been one of the most martyred places in Colombia in the country due to inequality. According to Dane, 66.7% of the population lives in poverty. This would explain why the Locos Yam also consider themselves, rather than victims, victimizers. According to the newspaper El Espectador “some of its members come from Medio Atrato, Bajo Atrato and San Juan, many of them arrived in Quibdó due to forced displacement due to the country’s internal armed conflict. When they arrived in the capital of Chocó, they did not find opportunities to get ahead and according to them, this led them to be easy prey for crime.”
The installation of the table in Quibdó served to get to know both bands more closely. About the Locos Yam, through a video they sent, their vision of what they expected for Chocó was known: “I imagine a Chocó without borders, without invisible barriers and that we all do our bit, not just us but everything, “This way we can achieve peace.”
In the following security balance they explain a little more in depth the reasons why homicides are decreasing in Chochó. Although, according to this figure, there are not many reasons to launch campaigns on the fly:
