Peter DeShazo, visiting professor of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies at Dartmouth College and former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs: “Formed by cadres from the AUC paramilitary umbrella group that disbanded during the Uribe administration and ex-leftist guerrillas, the Gulf Clan, (or ‘Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia’) like the AUC before it, constitutes a serious threat to legitimate state authority. Defining itself as a ‘political and military’ organization, it is a criminal enterprise based on drug trafficking and other illegal activities that controls considerable territory in northern Colombia. Similar to the AUC, the Gulf Clan attempts to cloak itself in legitimacy, claiming to promote social welfare and defense of local populations against the ELN fighters and ex-FARC gangs who compete with it for territory and control of drug trafficking. Under his ‘Total Peace’ initiative, President Petro is offering…”