A series of brutal killings in the southwest Colombian area of Valle del Cauca shows how small urban gangs are increasingly using a type of violence that was previously only used by the country's major armed groups.
Twenty-one massacres – defined as the simultaneous killing of three or more people – have been registered revealed by human rights NGO, INDEPAZ, in Colombia so far in 2024. Four of the mass killings resulted from escalating gang violence in Valle del Cauca.
In early April, armed men killed killed five people in a bar in the town of Toro, in the northern part of Valle del Cauca. The massacre occurred during ongoing conflicts between two gangs – Nueva Generación and Los Flacos. Both groups emerged from the remains of the now-defunct Norte del Valle Cartel (NDVC).
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The four massacres reported in the area this year are part of a larger war between local gangs competing for control of municipalities in Valle del Cauca, as well as in towns in the neighboring departments of Risaralda and Quindío.
The conflict has worsened, in part, due to the return of Colombian drug lords previously imprisoned in the United States. Some have come back to Valle del Cauca after serving their sentences and are now trying to reclaim their assets and drug trafficking routes with the help of the local gangs in the area, according to El País.
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Aside from an increase in massacres over the past year, the resurgence of massacres in Valle del Cauca demonstrates how this type of violence has become more common in urban areas rather than rural ones.
Massacres were frequent during Colombia’s long internal armed conflict (1948-2016). Right-wing paramilitaries, in particular, used mass killings to establish territorial control or punish communities controlled by enemies. To a much lesser extent, left-wing guerrillas also massacred civilians.
But massacres now occur more often in cities than in remote areas where the country’s armed conflict was more fierce, according to data from the past five years studied by Verdad Abierta.
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Apart from towns in Valle del Cauca, cities such as Cúcuta and Barranquilla have seen a rapid escalation of gang conflict. The cities with the highest number of massacres included major urban areas such as Cúcuta, Bogotá, Barranquilla, and Cali, according to the data. Massacres often stem from gang clashes over the control of criminal economies.
Featured image: Authorities move the bodies of victims after a massacre in Valle del Cauca. Credit: El País.