|
Who
Will
Fill
the
Power
Void
in
Colombia's
Eastern
Plains?
A
power
void
has
emerged
in
Colombia's
Eastern
Plains,
where
guerrillas
and
paramilitaries
have
long
ruled
in
lawless
tracts
of
territory,
and
traffickers
fight
for
control
of
the
primary
exit
points
for
drug
shipments
headed
to
Venezuela.
Colombia
has
three
primary
zones
where
drugs
are
produced
and
drug-producing
regions
and
departure
points:
the
Caribbean
coast,
currently
the
base
of
operations
for
drug-trafficking
gang
the
Urabeños;
the
Pacific
coast,
controlled
by
the
Rastrojos;
and
the
Eastern
Plains.
This
sparsely
populated
region
is a
major
producer
of
coca
and
cocaine,
and
criminal
group
the
Popular
Revolutionary
Anti-Terrorist
Army
of
Colombia
(ERPAC)
was
once
the
primary
mover
of
the
product
there.
But
after
the
group's
top
command
surrendered
en
masse
to
the
government
in
December,
the
question
now
is
whether
an
outsider
group
like
the
Rastrojos
or
Urabeños
will
try
to
move
into
the
territory,
or
whether
an
offshoot
of
the
ERPAC
will
step
up
and
reassert
themselves.
The
other
scenario
is
that
rebel
group
the
Revolutionary
Armed
Forces
of
Colombia
(FARC),
once
the
ERPAC's
primary
supplier
of
coca
base,
will
use
this
opportunity
to
reoccupy
their
former
territory.
The
ERPAC
followed
a
predictable
trajectory
after
police
killed
founding
leader
Pedro
Oliveiro
Guerrero,
alias
"Cuchillo,"
in
December
2010.
The
group
splintered,
with
one
faction
reportedly
defecting
to
work
as
mercenaries
for
the
FARC
guerrillas.
The
largest
faction
surrended
to
the
government
in
December,
demonstrating
the
inability
of
Guerrero's
successor
to
hold
the
ERPAC
together.
In
December,
269
alleged
members
of
the
neo-paramilitary
group
turned
in
their
weapons
to
authorities,
although
only
21
were
arrested
at
the
time,
including
the
group's
top
command.
Now,
police
say
they
have
identified
another
ERPAC
faction
poised
to
take
over
where
Guerrero
left
off.
According
to
El
Tiempo,
this
is a
group
of
just
100
fighters
based
in
Vichada,
an
impoverished
province
which
borders
Venezuela
and
no
paved
roads.
The
region
has
one
of
the
highest
rates
of
cocaine
production
in
Colombia,
according
to a
2010
United
Nations
report.
The
ERPAC
faction
still
based
here
is
reportedly
trying
to
recruit
the
gang
members
who
went
through
the
motions
of
demobilizing
in
December,
but
were
released
by
the
government.
The
ERPAC
were
once
the
dominant
group
in
four
of
the
five
provinces
that
make
up
Colombia's
Eastern
Plains
(see
InSight
Crime's
map
of
ERPAC's
area
of
influence).
The
question
now
is
whether
there
remains
a
member
of
the
ERPAC
with
the
ambition,
business
connections,
and
manpower
to
take
over
operations
in
all
four
provinces.
It
is
unlikely
that
the
faction
in
Vichada
will
be
able
to
do
so,
without
a
strong
leader
who
is
able
to
convince
many
of
former
members
to
return
rather
than
attempting
to
strike
out
on
their
own
and
establish
new
drug
smuggling
networks.
One
deciding
factor
will
be
whether
the
ERPAC
splinter
group
has
the
backing
of
one
of
Colombia's
most
wanted
drug
entrepreneurs,
Daniel
Barrera,
alias
"El
Loco."
Barrera
has
been
trafficking
drugs
from
the
Eastern
Plains
since
the
1980s,
connecting
the
suppliers
of
coca
with
traffickers
who
can
process
and
transport
cocaine.
He
brokered
the
business
alliance
between
the
ERPAC
and
the
16th
Front
in
Vichada,
once
one
of
the
FARC's
richest
units,
and
the
43rd
Front,
based
in
Meta.
It
will
be
difficult
for
any
remaining
offshoot
of
the
ERPAC
to
step
up
and
control
the
drug
market
without
Barrera's
blessing.
The
FARC,
meanwhile,
have
been
pushed
to
the
periphery
of
the
Eastern
Plains.
In
Vichada,
the
group
is
limited
to
the
southwestern
corner
of
the
province
and
sits
at
the
bottom
of
the
drug
supply
chain,
selling
coca
base
to
the
ERPAC,
who
process
it
into
cocaine
and
send
it
abroad.
Even
though
the
splintering
of
the
ERPAC
would
appear
to
give
the
guerrillas
ample
opportunity
to
assume
control
of
the
entire
supply
chain,
the
reality
is
that
the
FARC
cannot
reoccupy
this
territory
if
they
do
not
have
the
manpower.
Regaining
influence
over
the
drug
trafficking
networks
in
the
Eastern
Plains
will
not
be
easy
as
sending
another
FARC
unit
into
the
area.
The
guerrillas
need
commanders
who
have
knowledge
of
the
ground:
contacts
in
the
security
forces
and
the
support
of
the
local
population.
At
the
moment,
the
FARC
unit
best
poised
to
challenge
the
ERPAC
in
Vichada,
the
16th
Front,
has
none
of
these
things.
The
same
challenge
faces
the
other
criminal
organizations,
the
Rastrojos
and
the
Urabeños,
who
could
be
looking
to
gain
a
foothold
in
the
Eas |
