Shaky implementationThat said, the Petro government did manage to mint deals with several prominent armed groups.In 2023, for instance, it struck ceasefires with the Clan del Golfo and the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), a FARC offshoot.Within months, however, several agreements had already begun to break down amid attacks on security forces and renewed violence in key regions.Florez, the think tank director, notes that Petro approached these negotiations differently than some of his predecessors.His government engaged multiple groups in talks simultaneously — both rebels and criminal networks — and his negotiators were quick to seek ceasefires, rather than waiting to iron out more detailed peace frameworks.“This caused a lot of disorder in state offensive operations,” Florez said. Military leaders, he explained, “did not know whether [they] could act or against whom”.Florez added that the negotiators became overstretched, juggling too many parallel talks.“You have to try new things — but ultimately, it didn’t work,” he said.Some critics, particularly on the right, believe the strategy ultimately backfired. They argue that the negotiations — and the on-again, off-again ceasefires — gave criminal networks and rebel groups time to reorganise and consolidate territory. That, in turn, weakened the government’s hand.Laura Bonilla, the deputy director of the Fundación Paz y Reconciliación (PARES), a re …
