The President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, reported this Wednesday the reactivation of the extradition order against the top leader of the Clan del Golfo, Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias 'Chiquito Malo', a move that deepens the deterioration of peace talks between the State and this paramilitary organization.
Petro has held the Clan del Golfo responsible for a dishonest attitude at the dialogue table and has insisted that, if captured, 'Chiquito Malo' "must be immediately extradited." The United States Justice system is seeking him for crimes related to drug trafficking, terrorism, possession of weapons, and membership in a criminal organization.
In the same message published on social networks, the still head of the Colombian State also announced the arrest of 'El Zarco', considered one of the main commanders of the Clan del Golfo in the department of Córdoba.
The Government's decision comes at a delicate moment, after an agreement had been reached with this armed group—the most powerful in the country today—to create three temporary location zones between Chocó and Córdoba to concentrate those who wished to join the peace process without the risk of being arrested during their displacement.
"I do not believe in total, deadly wars, I do not believe in barbarism, I believe in the civilized and human, and the human thing is to talk and reduce death and pain in society," Petro wrote, thus defending his commitment to a peace policy aimed at the progressive disarmament of these structures and their incorporation into legal economic activities.
In this regard, he has defended the former High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda, who has been questioned for the alleged concessions he would have made to the Clan del Golfo, such as the reduction of certain military operations, in exchange for advancing negotiations, as recently revealed by some media outlets.
"The data from my Government shows success in the proposed line, which is peaceful: it is about voluntary eradication with crop substitution seen as a territorial and not individual economy," Petro stressed, lamenting at the same time the scarce collaboration that, in his opinion, he has received from certain sectors of the State.
In this context, he has accused the Colombian Prosecutor's Office of not supporting his strategy, being "influenced" by the United States, a country that has been promoting the forced eradication of illicit crops for decades, a policy that, according to the president, has now proven "failed according to the data".
Petro has vindicated "the strength of the collective" to face the "serious problems" facing humanity and has stressed that "thanks to the peace dialogues" and the guarantee of legal certainty for the historically marginalized peasantry, advances have been made that have already been certified by the United Nations.
All this occurs shortly after the Gulf Clan expressed, through a letter signed by 'Chiquito Malo' with his real name, addressed to the president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, their willingness to continue at the peace table and submit to Colombian justice.
Negotiations between the Petro Government and the Gulf Clan
Gustavo Petro's Executive and the Gulf Clan had been holding a formal dialogue since September 2025 in Doha, Qatar. However, the process suffered a significant setback in February 2026, after the Colombian president's meeting with Donald Trump at the White House.
In that meeting, Petro asked the United States for support to capture some of the main protagonists of the internal armed conflict, including the head of the Gulf Clan, Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias 'Chiquito Malo'.
Despite that setback, talks resumed in mid-February in Bogotá, after, according to the Gulf Clan's own version, the Colombian Ministry of Defense agreed to remove 'Chiquito Malo' from its list of "high-value targets" and progress was made on the idea of granting the group political status.
Nevertheless, the Government has insisted that security operations against the organization remain in force and that only the transfer to temporary location zones of those members who do not have extradition orders has been authorized, within the framework of the dialogues and as the negotiation progresses, so this measure does not apply to 'Chiquito Malo'.
Also known as 'Javier', 'Chiquito Malo' took the reins of the Gulf Clan after the capture, in October 2021, of Dairo Antonio Úsuga David, alias 'Otoniel', for years the most wanted man in the country and currently serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States.
According to reports from Colombian Intelligence, since 2022, coinciding with the Government's first attempts to open a negotiation process, the Clan del Golfo has increased its number of members and expanded its presence in other regions, which has led to new armed clashes with other illegal groups.