Colombia grapples with 'extreme barbaric violence' and dawn cartel wars

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President Gustavo Petro is pushing for 'true and definitive peace' in the Andean country of Colombia, but some say it is not possible to 'achieve it in just four years given its brutal past

Navy soldiers patrol a street in the port city of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia (

Image: AFP via Getty Images

Colombia's first leftist president was elected in September and many welcome a fresh start, but the country's barbaric past involving Pablo Escobar could hamper progress, a senator says.

The South American country suffered a war that killed nearly 450,000 civilians and displaced more than eight million people from their territories, it is a country teeming with drug traffickers and illegal armed groups.

Previous right-wing presidents failed to solve problems using brutal militarization, but they did manage to drive thousands into unemployment and homelessness.

President Gustavo Petro is now pushing for a "true and definitive peace" in the Andean country and has outlined plans to advance negotiations with guerrilla groups.

The National Liberation Army and two breakaway factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government, and Petro now hopes guerrilla and paramilitary forces will lay down their arms.

"I fear the extreme barbaric violence that society has suffered," Colombian Senate member María José Pizarro told the Mirror during a visit to London.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro (

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REUTERS)

"Everyone is talking about the TV series Narcos, everyone knows the story of Pablo Escobar. We have a history of senseless violence, but now we are in a new dawn and we have the opportunity to defend the history that has been overlooked and denied," Ms. Pizarro told the Mirr...