Colombian armed groups swell 90% under Petro’s ‘Total Peace’ era, study shows

Data released by the Ideas for Peace Foundation and reported by El Tiempo show that Colombia’s illegal armed groups added 13,682 members between December 2022 and July 2026, lifting total strength from 15,120 to 28,802 - a 90 % increase. The Clan del Golfo experienced the sharpest rise, expanding from 4,061 to 12,268 combatants, while the ELN grew 22 % and fragmented FARC factions together numbered over 10,000. This expansion unfolded under President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” program, which pursued negotiations with these groups but failed to halt violence or dismantle them, and coincided with a surge in forced displacement linked to battles over drug routes and illegal mining.

Petro has recently downplayed personal responsibility, labeling the outcome a national failure as his administration ends on August 7. His successor-elect, conservative Abelardo de la Espriella, has vowed a hard-line stance, promising to reactivate arrest warrants and threaten armed camps with military action. The report appears alongside separate findings that Colombian militants are using TikTok to recruit youths.