During an April 1-3 tour of the country, Santos announced a number of measures to tackle Colombia's security problems. For years, the government has concentrated security efforts against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (better known as the FARC), and the government is currently engaged in high-level peace negotiations with the FARC. Nevertheless, Santos is being criticized as soft on security and his approval ratings slid 7 percentage points in March to 55 percent, while his unfavorable ratings rose from 31 percent to 39 percent. Santos' most vocal critic has been his predecessor and former boss, former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez, who has accused Santos of, among other things, legitimizing terrorism by engaging with the FARC. Uribe remains very popular and was known for his tough stance on crime. He broke with Santos early in Santos' administration and seems likely to back a different candidate in the May 2014 election.
Militant attacks have affected oil infrastructure in particular, but the majority of Colombia is affected more directly by criminal gangs known as bacrims (the abbreviated form of "bandas criminales"), which perpetrate most crimes in Colombia. These groups are involved in a wide range of criminal activities, from drug trafficking to extortion, and many include former members of the paramilitary groups that officially disbanded in 2005 after negotiations with Uribe. The Santos government has made notable gains against several groups, including Los Rastrojos, which has seen many of its leaders captured and has lost some territorial control. But the bacrim known as the Urabenos have grown only stronger. In Medellin, where the Urabenos are at war with local bacrim Oficina de Envigado to secure control over the city, homicides increased by 21 percent year on year to a total of 189 in just the first two months of 2013.
To demonstrate a commitment to addressing this issue, Santos ordered National Police Director Jose Roberto Leon Riano to move to Medellin in mid-March to direct a campaign against criminal groups. The long-term success of Leon Riano's efforts will undoubtedly be seriously complicated by the strength of these criminal organizations and the well-known corruption among Medellin's local security forces. But Santos was quick to declare the intervention a success April 2 during a public appearance in one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. In addition to the Medellin intervention, Santos has announced that police and military assets will be allocated to intervene in 24 of the country's most dangerous neighborhoods in 20 cities over the next two months.
Though these kinds of rapid deployment police efforts are effective for temporarily disrupting criminal organizations and demonstrating a political will to challenge security threats, they are not effective for achieving long-term stability. But this effort may serve as a warning for the bacrim in Colombia, who have undoubtedly benefited from the intense government scrutiny on leftist militant groups but are likely to see increasing government pressure going forward.
To help address bacrim activities outside the cities, Santos and allied politicians have introduced a law to the Colombian legislature that would allow the Colombian military to use a similar level of force against criminal groups that is used against leftist militant groups. The military already engages bacrim in its areas of jurisdiction, but this law would expand the military's options — particularly in rural areas where bacrim are involved in the cultivation, processing and transportation of cocaine as well as other criminal activities. This change will put the bacrim groups on the same level as the FARC and the National Liberation Army in rural areas.
In addition to expanding the military's prerogatives, Santos announced April 2 another 60-day initiative aimed at combating illegal mining. Colombia has significant gold and emerald reserves, and much of the industry is unregulated and is frequently controlled by criminal organizations. By shutting down illegal mines, Santos hopes to disrupt a traditional mechanism for money laundering and secure greater control and revenue from a valuable resource. Once again, this is the kind of political push that will require a sustained focus, and with the government withholding even the locations of the mining areas under scrutiny, it is too early to say whether the joint police-military effort will achieve long-term success amid myriad other priorities.
Overall, Santos' recent moves make it clear that the government is taking the security threat posed by criminal organizations seriously. The bacrim are a well-known problem that the government has been addressing, but it has been fighting a multi-front war with criminals and militants. For these efforts to extend beyond an endeavor to establish his security credentials in the eyes of the public, Santos urgently needs negotiations with the FARC to conclude so that the government can turn its attention to addressing the challenges associated with institutional weakness and a multitude of criminal organizations spread across the country.
