The elected president, Gustavo Petro, already has in his possession a voluminous document with the key points of what would be the necessary reforms to process the collective submission of drug gangs and that, incidentally, would open the door to resume dialogue with the ELN. But, right there, there are recommendations on how to apply differential criminal treatment for those who take advantage of these processes.
What is sought is that the people who end up sheltered by the so-called “total peace”, and who do not have a political character like the one that the ELN wants to recognize, do pay an effective intramural penalty by applying a formula that the country has already seen during the administration of former President Álvaro Uribe.
It is about imposing a maximum sentence of 8 years in prison, as long as a total disarmament is carried out and the drug trafficking routes and accomplices with whom they have allied themselves to take advantage of the more than 235,000 hectares of crops for illicit use are handed over. that cover Colombia and whose ties extend to Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, States, among others.
This recipe is similar to the one applied to the paramilitaries through the Justice and Peace Law, which sheltered more than 31,000 ex-combatants and some of their commanders who are currently on the streets. A notorious case in the Antioquia region is that of Fredy Rendón Herrera, alias el Alemán, the former leader of the Élmer Cárdenas block who, since 2015, has been free after paying those same 8 years that are now proposed for the surviving drug gangs.
One of the justifications for resorting to this alternative punishment, which also involves confession of the crimes committed and reparation processes that are being designed, is that at the time it had constitutional control.
Indeed, when the Constitutional Court studied Law 975 of 2005, it overturned the crime of sedition, which in a few words gave political recognition to the self-defense groups, but gave them free rein for sentences of up to 8 years.
In this context, according to the reports analyzed by Petro and his congressional bench to finalize the legal reforms for submission, they rule out that there is any kind of political recognition of the gangs that are now asking for a clue.
The president-elect and his close circle know that, for example, giving that status to the Clan del Golfo or to the narco-dissidents of the Farc would be a very complex “toad” to digest in Colombia. And although it is almost ruled out that it will happen, there are still voices that ask to keep the debate open so that all illegals get on board to lay down their weapons.
Now, after proposing the alternative sentence of 8 years, another discussion took place on which Petro will also have the last word. This refers to the places where they should serve that sentence, since not everyone is willing to go to jail despite being responsible for massacres, murders of social leaders, displacement and, among other crimes, sending tons of cocaine to the Exterior.
That analysis was even made in the office of the president of the Senate, Roy Barreras, in a private meeting he had last Friday with former prosecutor Eduardo Montealegre and his right-hand man, former deputy prosecutor Jorge Perdomo, both experts in criminal law.
In this sense, and as if it were a snapshot of what was done at the time by Uribe – who also recently spoke of a general amnesty that some voices likened to Petro’s social forgiveness – it was proposed within the Petrismo to examine places of concentration for the disarms and subsequent payment of the alternative penalty. They would be like penal farms. “They have to pay jail time, but we must look at how to impose it on them without another wave of violence arising,” said a source from the Pact.
In any case, this is still in draft and it would be part of the recipe prepared by Petro and whose central axis has already been revealed by EL COLOMBIANO, since it is focused on four fronts: reforming the law of submission, that of public order, the structure of the Jurisdiction Special for Peace (JEP) and propose a reform of the extradition treaty with the United States.
In fact, the Catholic Church is already helping to explore ways to bring these issues to the territories. Or at least that is what Monsignor Héctor Fabio Henao revealed to this newspaper, who said: “We are in a society where drug trafficking has had a great impact on all forms of life in society, on values, culture, relationships and in the exercise of power. This phenomenon cannot be ignored and requires dialogue.”
However, the final decision of which of all this progresses and how far Petro has, and the task of applying what is guaranteed, is in the offices of people like his chancellor, Álvaro Leyva; her peace advisor, Danilo Rueda; his defense minister; Ivan Velasquez; and senators like Iván Cepeda and Roy Barreras.
The doubt, as in any search for peace, is the degree of impunity that Colombia will be willing to admit, since alternative punishments do not always leave the bulk of society satisfied. Justice and Peace and the Havana agreement are only recent examples.