William Acosta, CEO of EQUALIZER INVESTIGATIONS for FinGurú
Introduction
At the heart of Latin America lies an urgent and increasingly visible concern: institutional corrosion fueled by the convergence of political power, ideological interests, and vast criminal networks. Citizen skepticism toward state authorities grows as they witness how invisible structures and unsuspected alliances allow organized crime not only to survive but to prosper and colonize ever-widening spheres of social fabric.
In Colombia, Gustavo Petro's politics illustrate this tension: while he launches high-profile operations against his enemies, he protects or negotiates with others, consolidating a narrative that often hides the true roots of impunity. The strengthening of the so-called "Narcotrafficking Board" is not incidental; it is a symptom of a continent witnessing how crime crosses borders with the complicity—by action or omission—of high-ranking state officials and international actors.
This report rigorously and humanely explores the complex architecture that permits the expansion of organized crime under the disguise of political projects and global pacts, a phenomenon whose impact is felt in every corner of national life, from the economy to justice and everyday security (Noticias UNO, 2025; El País, 2025).
Figures and Regional Economic Context: Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia
Cuba is facing a GDP drop of -1.5% in 2025, an inflation rate of 41%, and more than 89% of its households currently living in extreme poverty (Infobae, 2025; ArbolInvertido, 2025).
Venezuela records a GDP growth of +9.3%, an inflation rate of 48%, and a record oil production, despite the persistence of an illegal economy and structural devaluation (Swissinfo, 2025; CEDICE, 2025).
Colombia shows a GDP growth of between 2.6% and 2.7%, an inflation rate of 4.3%, and a 7.1% increase in its agricultural sector (BBVA Research, 2025).
Critical Questions to the State: Operations, Cultivation, and Selective Justice
The most urgent and ethical debate that President Gustavo Petro must face is simple but unavoidable: where are the consistent results in the pursuit of the ELN, Nueva Marquetalia, and the Cartel de los Soles? Beyond isolated captures and announcements about negotiations, official evidence shows that the vast majority of the leaders of these narco-terrorist groups remain active, with no exemplary sentences and enjoying margins of maneuver that embarrass victims and cast doubt on the state's real willingness to confront criminality without double standards.
During 2025, the government has prioritized dialogue with the ELN and various dissident groups, including structures of Nueva Marquetalia, although these processes have been marked by rupture and distrust. Petro recently denounced bloody clashes and confirmed the capture of four members of the ELN at the border with Venezuela, but, according to his own statements, these events prove the open war between mafias for illicit economies, not effective suppression of their leadership (Infobae, 2025). The negotiation tables have culminated in the suspension of approaches and an overflow of violence in Catatumbo and Arauca, where illicit crops continue to grow and narco corridors remain intact (Infobae, 2025; DW, 2025; Occidente, 2025).
Regarding Nueva Marquetalia, although the state has announced the arrest of some mid-level leaders, the leadership, including alias "Iván Márquez," continues to operate in the margins, with transnational alliances and bi-state presence in Colombia and Venezuela.
The group has suffered internal leaks and schisms, but major criminal processes tend to dissolve or remain trapped in judicial limbo, while the Coordinadora Nacional Ejército Bolivariano—new name of a remnant of the organization—maintains zones of operation and negotiations with the government (El País, 2025; IFMNoticias, 2025).
As for the Cartel de los Soles, the official premise of the Colombian government remains denial: Gustavo Petro insists that its existence is a political invention, ignoring that the United States, the European Union, and dozens of international judicial reports document the network directed from the Venezuelan military apparatus (BBC Mundo, 2025; Wikipedia, 2025; U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2025). There is no serious operation, no captured leader, no exemplary sentence that supports the narrative of real combat against this organization, despite its influence being transversal in routes, crops, and laundering in
Border
The reality of illicit crops only worsens the landscape: today there are thousands of more hectares of coca in Colombia than during the era of the great Cartels. The eradication efforts are so selective and sporadic that—according to recent reports—coca plantations are at their historical highs, while "understanding" is promoted towards the farming peasants, and enclaves controlled by dissidents remain outside of offensives (UNODC, 2025).
Finally, the absence of serious judicial processes and firm sentences against the true leaders of these groups exposes the fragility of justice when facing allies or "comrades." What is legal severity for some is understanding and guarantees for others, deepening the culture of impunity and citizen distrust. Petro has also publicly stated that the United States has no right to intervene militarily or to guarantee the safety of its citizens against narco-terrorist networks established in the region.
In his narrative, the solution lies in dialogue and understanding even with the most violent factions, a policy that, for many victims, is equivalent to giving flowers to those who have sown terror and death across the national geography.
This double discourse makes it impossible to consolidate equitable justice and undermines the legitimacy of any peace or state reform strategy, as what is sanctioned and attacked in the political enemies of the government is tolerated and even shielded when it favors those who share the ideology or the current pact.
The question remains open, and the citizens who still suffer extortion, displacement, and fear demand answers that go far beyond official statements or promises of peace talks.
Conclusion
The current landscape reveals the magnitude of the challenge facing Colombia and the entire continent when state legitimacy and institutionality are captured or distorted by criminal interests and transnational ideological alliances.
The power of crime does not arise in a vacuum: it feeds on silence, feigned neutrality, political manipulation of public force, and systematic omission when the enemy is an ally or a strategic partner.
Building an authentic democracy requires much more than speeches and occasional operations: it demands transparency, penal efficiency, international cooperation, and the restoration of institutional impartiality.
Only then can Colombia and Latin America begin to reverse the expansion of narcopolitics and rebuild citizen trust in the state.
References
Infobae. (2025, September 9). Cuba faces an unprecedented social crisis: 89% of its population lives in extreme poverty. https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2025/09/09/cuba-enfrenta-una-crisis-social-sin-precedentes-el-89-de-su-poblacion-vive-en-la-pobreza-extrema/
ArbolInvertido. (2025, August 11). The economy of Cuba will be the 2nd worst in Latin America in 2025 according to CEPAL. https://arbolinvertido.com/sociedad/la-economia-de-cuba-sera-la-2da-peor-de-latinoamerica-en-2025-segun-la-cepal
Swissinfo. (2025, July 18). Five key data points of the Venezuelan economy in the first half of 2025. https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/cinco-datos-claves-de-la-econom%C3%ADa-venezolana-en-el-primer-semestre-de-2025/89706350
BBVA Research. (2025, May 14). The Colombian economy grew 2.7% in the first quarter of 2025. https://www.bbvaresearch.com/publicaciones/colombia-la-economia-colombiana-crecio-27-en-el-primer-trimestre-de-2025/
El País. (2025, June 11). The “new narcotrafficking board”: what is known about the network. https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2025-06-11/lo-que-se-sabe-de-la-nueva-junta-del-narcotrafico-a-la-que-petro-senala-de-estar-detras-del-atentado-contra-miguel-uribe.html
Noticias UNO. (2025, September 8). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zDagBAAfFc
El Colombiano. (2025, September 6). The so-called “New narcotrafficking board” would be behind 20 homicides in Colombia. https://www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/nueva-junta-del-narcotrafico-detras-de-20-homicidios-en-colombia-EL29001432
PanAmPost. (2019, September 22). Socialism seeks to be reborn and kneel once again to Latin America. https://panampost.com/emmanuel-rincon/2019/09/23/socialismo-america-latina/
Semana. (2025, July 22). Gustavo Petro announced that he changed the doctrine of the Police and the Armed Forces. https://www.semana.com/politica/articulo/gustavo-petro-anuncio-que-cambio-la-doctrina-de-la-policia-y-de-las-ffmm-no-existe-un-enemigo-interno/202532/
DW. (2025, August 8). Petro announces peace talks with the narco group in Colombia. https://www.dw.com/es/petro-anuncia-diálogos-de-paz-con-mayor-grupo-narco-de-colombia/a-73578479
DW. (2023, May 10). Retired military and police protest against Petro. https://www.dw.com/es/militares-y-polic%C3%ADas-retirados-protestan-contra-pol%C3%ADtica-de-seguridad-de-petro/a-65582791
Infobae. (2025, May 7). "This government does not kneel": Petro reveals results and issues a warning to the Clan del Golfo. https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2025/05/07/este-gobierno-no-se-arrodilla-petro-revela-resultados-y-lanza-advertencia-al-clan-del-golfo-por-plan-pistola/
El País. (2025, September 11). Petro removes the inspector general of the Armed Forces. https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2025-09-11/petro-retira-al-inspector-general-de-las-fuerzas-militares-por-supuestos-nexos-con-el-narcotrafico.html
DW. (2025, August 23). Colombia extradites seven drug traffickers to the United States. https://www.dw.com/es/colombia-extradita-a-siete-narcotraficantes-a-estados-unidos/a-73743215
Infobae. (2025, September 10). Narcotrafficking Board: these are the invisible narcos of the Italian mafia that fell in Colombia. https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2025/09/10/the-invisible-narcos-of-the-italian-mafia-who-fell-in-colombia-and-were-mentioned-in-the-intelligence-report-on-the-narcotrafficking-junta-that-denounced-gustavo-petro-dollarino-fedi-and-peppe/
El Colombiano. (2022, May 6). Chiquito Malo and Gonzalito: Who are the alleged responsible parties for the armed strike? https://www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/quienes-son-alias-chiquito-malo-y-gonzalito-presuntos-responsables-del-paro-armado-BM17396777
Infobae. (2023, September 25). Chiquito Malo, leader of the Gulf clan, was sanctioned by the United States for drug trafficking and his relations with the Sinaloa cartel. https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2023/09/26/chiquito-malo-lider-del-clan-del-golfo-fue-sancionado-por-estados-unidos-por-narcotrafico-y-sus-relaciones-con-el-cartel-de-sinaloa/
BBC Mundo. (2025, September 10). What is known about the Cartel de los Soles, the Venezuelan organization designated as a drug trafficker by the U.S. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c98lz3lp3plo
Wikipedia. (2025, September 10). Cártel de los Soles. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1rtel_de_los_Soles
U.S. Department of the Treasury. (2025, July 24). The Department of the Treasury sanctions a Venezuelan cartel led by Maduro. https://www.state.gov/translations/spanish/el-departamento-del-tesoro-sanciona-a-un-cartel-venezolano-dirigido-por-maduro
UNODC. (2025, August 28). World Drug Report 2025 routes Colombia. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN8WjItDjBw/
El País. (2025, May 30). Keys to the peace dialogues with the National Coordinating Bolivarian Army. https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2025-05-30/claves-de-los-dialogos-de-paz-con-la-coordinadora-nacional-ejercito-bolivariano-desprendida-de-la-segunda-marquetalia.html
IFMNoticias. (2025, July 14). José Aldinever Sierra ‘El Zarco’ and other leaders of the Segunda Marquetalia lose their status as peace negotiators. https://ifmnoticias.com/jose-aldinever-sierra-el-zarco-y-otros-lideres-de-la-segunda-marquetalia-pierden-su-estatus-de-negociadores-de-paz/
Occidente. (2025, July 24). Peace process with ELN has ended. https://occidente.co/colombia/petro-rompe-proceso-paz-con-eln-crisis-confianza-y-violencia/
About the Author
William L. Acosta is a graduate of PWU and Alliance University. He is a retired New York police officer, former military, and founder of Equalizer Private Investigations & Security Services Inc. Since 1999, he has led complex narcotics and homicide investigations, participating in criminal defense and coordinating operations in the Americas and Europe.
Comments