Deep Dive Podcast - Colombia & Total Peace: Part 2 - Buenaventura - “The Pact for Life”

The second episode of GI-TOC’s Deep Dive podcast series, on Colombia & Total Peace: Part 2- Buenaventura - "The Pact for Life” is now available! The episode features research by Felipe Botero, Mariana Botero, Juanita Duran, Kyle Johnson, as part of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime led research project, 'Negotiating with criminal groups: Colombia's Total Peace Policy', supported by SOC ACE.

Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast of Colombia, has long been an important node in international illicit markets, particularly cocaine trafficking due to its port. Gangs, paramilitaries and organized criminal networks have all looked to gain a foothold here, with high levels of violence, including murders and disappearances.
In this podcast episode, the team discusses how in September 2022, two gangs in Buenaventura signed a truce to end the bloodshed that had gripped the city for two years - called 'The Pact for Life'. The research and this episode show how there has been a reduction in homicides since the Pact’s signing, but that this statistic hides the fact that other crimes have increased - extortion, disappearances, control of movement, and the "justice" (fines, beatings or murder) meted out on the population by the gangs.

Keep an eye out for the third bonus episode in the series as well as research publication in 2025.

Keep an eye out for the third bonus episode in the series as well as publications from the associated research project, ‘Negotiating with criminal groups: Colombia’s Total Peace Policy’ in spring 2025!