ConflictBarometer_2015

THE AMERICAS
size Los Rastrojos and their affiliate La Empresa as well as the
two splinter groups of the Anti-Subversive Popular Revolutionary
Army of Colombia (ERPAC) Libertadores del Vichada
and Bloque Meta. These groups, called ''BACRIM'' (Criminal
Gangs) by the government, were composed of ex-members
of the demobilized paramilitary organization United Self-
Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and of dismantled drug
cartels of the 1990s. Along with other smaller groups, these
organizations fought over the dominance over drug trafficking
and smuggling routes, areas of coca production, and the
extraction of resources such as minerals and wood.
Violence concentrated in the departments of the Pacific coast,
Orinoquía in the east, and in border regions. Confrontations
between the armed groups repeatedly caused high numbers
of displaced people as well as high homicide rates in several
cities. The Urabá region in the northwest saw violent conflicts
between FARC, ELN, and Los Urabeños as well as between
these groups and state forces [→ Colombia (FARC); Colombia
(ELN); Colombia (neo-paramilitary groups, drug cartels)].
Chocó department saw confrontations between ELN and Los
Urabeños as both groups increased their presence in this
key region for drug trafficking and illegal mining, which had
previously been dominated by the FARC. Reportedly, ELN and
Los Urabeños clashed at least 130 times in the Medio Atrato
region in September and October, with several confrontations
between the FARC and Los Urabeños taking place in Río
Ciego, Bajo Atrato region. Three members of Los Urabeños
died in combats with ELN in Bajo Atrato on October 15. As a
consequence of clashes between these groups in Bajo Baudó,
Chocó, more than 600 indigenous and Afro-Colombians were
displaced by March. According to UNOCHA, up until November,
more than 1,000 people were displaced in the region
around the Baudó river, with more than 3,000 experiencing
significant restrictions of mobility.
On June 14, a grenade explosion injured 14 civilians and two
policemen in the country's main Pacific port Buenaventura,
Valle del Cauca department, as part of the turf war between
Los Urabeños and the Los Rastrojos-related La Empresa. Several
homicides were attributed to inter-gang violence, for
example the killing of two people on September 27 and
November 7 by Los Urabeños. In addition, from December
2014 to February 2015, the police found twelve dismembered
bodies along with abandoned houses the gangs continuously
used as so-called ''chop-up houses'' in order to let
victims disappear.
The turf war between Los Urabeños and Los Rastrojos affected
the Colombian-Venezuelan border region as well. For
example, on May 5, Venezuelan police found 13 corpses
with gunshot wounds in mass graves in Ureña, Táchira state,
which some sources linked to gang rivalry. The presence of
Colombian armed groups in Venezuelan border states contributed
to the eruption of an inter-state conflict between
Venezuela and Colombia [→ Venezuela Colombia (border
security)]. Moreover, in the border city Cúcuta, Norte de Santander
department, Los Urabeños experienced an internal
split to which the police attributed the majority of the 161
homicides registered until November. In Barrancabermeja,
Santander department, the police attributed 89 percent of all
homicides registered in the city to inter-gang rivalry between
Los Urabeños and Los Rastrojos. Up until September, a total
of 53 people were killed and more than 100 displaced by the
violence.
In the Orinoquía region, the Irregular Armed Forces of Colombia
(FIAC) had formed in late 2014. According to the research
institute Indepaz, FIAC was competing primarily with Libertadores
del Vichada for territorial control, with the latter being
allied with Los Urabeños. Libertadores del Vichada were
also involved in a continued turf war with Bloque Meta in
Villavicencio, Meta department, to which the police ascribed
the majority of the 138 homicides in the city registered by
November. mkr
COLOMBIA (NEO-PARAMILITARY GROUPS, DRUG
CARTELS)
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 1983
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
drug cartels, neo-paramilitary groups
vs. government
subnational predominance, resources
The limited war concerning subnational predominance and
resources between several neo-paramilitary organizations
and drug cartels, on the one hand, and the government, on
the other, continued. Most of these organizations, called
''BACRIM'' (Criminal Gangs) by the government, consisted of
dismantled drug cartels of the 1990s and former members
of the paramilitary organization United Self-Defense Forces
of Colombia (AUC) officially demobilized in 2006.
According to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for Organized
Crime, the following paramilitary groups were the most active
ones in Colombia: Los Urabeños also known as Clan Úsuga
(approx. 2,700 members), Los Rastrojos and their affiliate
La Empresa (450 members), and two splinter groups of the
Anti-Subversive Popular Revolutionary Army of Colombia
(ERPAC) called Bloque Meta and Libertadores del Vichada (80
members each). However, Los Urabeños, calling themselves
Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia, claimed to command
more than 8,000 members. Moreover, the research institute
Indepaz listed several other groups such as Águilas Negras as
smaller armed organizations with limited regional presence.
According to the UN High Commission for Human Rights
in Colombia, the neo-paramilitary groups represented the
biggest threat to public security in the country. President
Juan Manuel Santos declared the fight against these groups
a state priority.
The main interests of these groups were the control over
production and transportation of drugs, especially cocaine,
as well as illegal mining, extortion, contraband, and human
trafficking. The violence was concentrated in Urabá in the
northwest, the Pacific port Buenaventura, and Orinoquía in
the east due to confrontations both with state forces and
between different illegal groups [→ Colombia (inter-cartel
violence, neo-paramilitary groups, left-wing militants)]. According
to Indepaz, until September, the neo-paramilitary
groups were active in one third of all municipalities. Meanwhile,
the Ministry of Defense declared 86 percent of the
national territory as ''free from BACRIM'' and claimed to have
captured 2,062 presumed members of these groups by the
end of October.
In the beginning of 2015, the government initiated the nationwide
''Operation Agamemnon'' involving 1,250 soldiers
and policemen and Blackhawk helicopters in order to capture
Los Urabeños leader Dairo Antonio Úsuga alias Otoniel. On
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