Colombians face torture and extortion as brutal gangs fill vacuum left by ‘peace’ deal with Farc
The windows are painted black inside the wooden shack by the river in Guarumu, a tiny village in northern Colombia. The floor is stained heavily with blood and there is a stench of rotting flesh leaking from what used to be the kitchen.
Farmers, shopkeepers and miners are among locals to have been tortured to death here for refusing to pay monthly extortion fees, according to local gang members.
“They think they can get away with
not paying what they owe. But they can’t. Torture sends a signal that extortion must be paid,” says Oscar, a senior gang member, proudly and with slow intent.
In the Bajo Cauca region, where rival groups compete for control of lucrative trafficking corridors and the surrounding coca plantations, the homicide rate has reached 124 per 100,000 people, making it the second most murderous place in the world.
The numbers make uncomfortable reading in a country that signed a historic “peace” deal to bring to an end half a century of civil war with the Farc, a far-left guerrilla group.
The Farc may be gone, but in the vacuum left behind, criminal groups have quickly established far more brutal methods of controlling the local population. Data from the Colombian ministry of defence show a continuous rise in reported cases of extortion since peace negotiations with the Farc began in 2012, peaking in 2017 when the group was demobilised.
“Figures for 2018 actually show a slight decrease in extortion,” said a senior army source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “But these numbers are only part of the story. We know that most cases are not reported.”
Torture is now an integral part of the local economy. Organised criminal groups have become regulators of a sophisticated and corrupt underground tax ecosystem. Desperate to raise quick cash, gangs and dissident Farc groups use extortion to fund their criminal insurgency. According to figures from the UN, reports of torture in Colombia increased by 250 per cent in the first few months of this year, while homicides have increased by 64 per cent. Human rights organisations warn that the conflict in the country is intensifying, despite the 2016 peace deal with Farc.
In Caucasia, in the Bajo Cauca region, extortion networks reach every type of business, large and small. Casinos, for example, must pay the equivalent of £2.50 per slot machine per month, while transport companies pay upwards of £5 per vehicle and cattle farmers £3 per bull, depending on how many they own.
These sums may seem small, but for the vast majority of businesses, it means coughing up hundreds of pounds each month to support the gangs’ regime of terror.
“The gangs are in charge. Everyone pays. They have created a feudal system,” says Juan Diego Calle, the director of the local chamber of commerce.
Caucasia’s main street is lined with carts serving juice and pizza. Oscar stands guard with his 9mm revolver as one of his henchmen approaches each street vendor in turn to collect their monthly payment, which is known as la vacuna.
Oscar works for the Caparrapos, which is now the largest gang in Caucasia.
Extortion is a ritual to which everyone here is now well accustomed. Most of the vendors already have the cash waiting. Some even ask for a receipt as proof of their payment.
“El Gordo”, or “the fat one”, used to manage the books for the Caparrapos in Caucasia, until he fled after being accused of stealing.
“The extortion paid depends on the business. We look at the finances, work out how much you earn, what the expenses are and then come up with a fee you have to pay,” he says.
In Caucasia alone, the gang makes 500 million pesos (£118,000) a month, he claims.
“They use this money to buy phones, weapons and pay their wages. Fighting a war is expensive,” El Gordo adds.
Oscar stands guard at the entrance to Guarumu, monitoring those who come and go.
“People here are trapped,” he says. “We are the law and they know we can do what we want.”
‘[The gangs] use this money to buy phones, weapons and pay their wages. Fighting a war is expensive’ ‘They think they can get away with not paying what they owe. But they can’t. Torture sends a signal that extortion must be paid’