The decision is part of the first axes of the demobilization process of the armed group, although it has not yet been fulfilled.
On September 18, the National Government and the self-proclaimed Gaitanista Army of Colombia —the umbrella with which the Gulf Clan covered itself to talk with the Executive— the dialogues for its demobilization began in Qatar, with an ambiguous agreement that establishes some bases for the future.
One of the most relevant points, which appears in the third paragraph of the minutes that the negotiators signed and that The FM knew, has to do with the recruitment of children and adolescents. The EGC committed to “respect their rights”, recognizing that “They are the first floor for the construction of peace.” The declaration is key.
In January 2025, the Ombudsman’s Office public last year’s forced recruitment figures. The armed groups that took minors by force the most were the FARC dissidents, although the entity did not specify which ones, and the Clan del Golfo was the sixth.
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The report listed 409 minors recruited throughout the country in 2024, of which seven were in the hands of the Gaitanista Army, a group with about 1,900 up in arms in 107 municipalities, mainly in the north and northwest of the country. The Clan agreed to evaluate which of them are minors.
“The group will carry out a new census among its members to verify the situation and, in the event of identifying cases, they will be made available to the “Colombian Institute of Family Welfare for the restoration of their rights”said the agreement, signed by representatives of the Government and the EGC. Álvaro Jiménez Millán signed the document as chief negotiator of the Petro administration.
Luis Armando Pérez, alias ‘Bruno’, political head of the Clan and leading negotiator at the table in Qatar, signed on behalf of the Gaitanistas. Marlon Cabrera was a military observer and Camilo Medina was a police officer.
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The Government, through the ICBF, agreed to lead “an articulation plan to overcome the deficit of rights and the development of safe environments.
On November 10, the Institute launched a strategy that it titled with an expression used in the agreement: “First Floor of Peace.” The entity highlighted that between 2024 and the current period of 2025 had assisted 210 girls, boys and adolescents threatened by recruitment and another 332 due to threats against their lives by armed groups. 63% of the victims were adolescents between twelve and seventeen years old.
In 2025, according to the ICBF, 328 minors have been “disconnected from the armed conflict.” 82% of them belonged to the FARC dissidents—like the seven minors who died in the bombing in Guaviare—, 10% were part of the ELN and 7% were with the Clan del Golfo or Gaitanista Army. Two months after the consensus in Qatar, the Gulf Clan has not yet finished its census.
“They are doing it,” a source in the demobilization process told La FM. The agreement emphasizes that “working groups will be created” with the communities, the EGC and local and ethnic authorities.
“The safety, non-stigmatization and protection of those who participate in these instances will be the responsibility of the State, “which must be verified” by the Mission to Support the Peace Process of the OAS, the World Council of Churches and the Episcopal Conference of Colombia.
For Leonardo González, director of the Institute of Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), the point of minors in the agreement is critical.
“Without a verifiable commitment and clear deadlines, “Minors can be trapped in a limbo between the rhetoric of the process and the reality of armed control,” he said.
Source: Integrated Information System
