The demobilization of a dissident faction of the ELN is a symbolic step forward for Colombia’s Total Peace policy, which has had limited impact on the ongoing violence by the country’s main armed groups.
On April 6, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that the Comuneros del Sur Front, a dissident faction of the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN), has laid down its arms and agreed to replace 5,000 hectares of coca for other crops. These actions represent the implementation of two points from the set of agreements between the Comuneros del Sur and the Colombian government.
With an estimated 100 to 300 fighters, the Comuneros del Sur Front operated in Nariño, the department with the highest concentration of coca crops in Colombia and home to several key ports for international cocaine trafficking. The group agreed to disarm by June 27 as part of the peace process.“Among the Comuneros del Sur, the idea of change and transformation prevailed — unlike the ELN, which doesn’t care about farmers, and killed them in Catatumbo to protect coca crops,” Petro said after the signing of the agreement.
The Comuneros del Sur declared their break from the ELN in May 2024, when peace talks between the ELN and the government were ongoing. The government then began separate negotiations with the breakaway group, which became a major point of dispute in talks with the ELN. Those negotiations collapsed in January 2025 due to a spike in violence in Catatumbo.
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While the Comuneros del Sur’s disarmament has been touted as a success for the Total Peace policy, the impact is more symbolic than substantive.
In the group’s stronghold in Nariño, the deal could lead to short-term benefits, like reducing violence over coca cultivation and cocaine production. Governor of Nariño, Luis Alfonso Escobar Jaramillo, said that even during negotiations with the group, communities saw a drop in forced displacement, child recruitment, and violence.
But that progress may be short-lived. Other armed groups — including FARC dissidents, the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC), and the Pacific Guerrilla Coordinating Committee (Coordinadora Guerrillera del Pacífico – CGP), which is part of the National Bolivarian Army Coordinator — are also active in the region. These groups could fill the power vacuum left by the Comuneros del Sur, especially in the absence of a clear peace strategy from the government.
One of the government’s greatest challenges remains forging deals with Colombia’s main armed groups. Most negotiations have stalled due to serious obstacles.
Although the government announced talks with the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC) in August 2024, the process lacks a legal framework for the group’s full demobilization. Instead, the AGC has only been offered the opportunity for a “legal surrender” — a path the group rejects.
Meanwhile, the FARC dissidents have splintered under the Total Peace umbrella. The government has only managed to sustain negotiations with two factions: the General Staff of Blocks and Fronts (Estado Mayor de los Bloques y Frente – EMBF), a branch of the EMC, and the National Bolivarian Army Coordinator, which separated itself from the negotiations with the Second Marquetalia.
As for the ELN, peace talks have been on hold since January 2025 after the group committed war crimes during its clashes with FARC dissidents in Catatumbo.
Urban peace efforts are also faltering. In Buenaventura, talks between the Shottas and the Spartans have stalled since a ceasefire collapsed in February 2025. Although the truce resumed in April, it remains unclear how talks between the government and the gangs will proceed. Similarly, the Conquering Self Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada – ACSN) suspended peace talks in April 2025 after a military operation deepened divisions with the government.
With President Petro’s administration politically weakened and presidential elections set for 2026, the small breakthrough of the Comuneros del Sur disarming has been described as a major victory. But with Colombia’s main armed groups still active, the government has a long way to go to achieve Total Peace.
Featured image: Members of the National Liberation Army (ELN). Credit: EFE / Christian Escobar Mora.
