El crimen organizado se ha transformado en una herida abierta para la democracia en América Latina. De la época de los carteles de los años 80 y 90, evolucionamos hacia una etapa de fragmentación criminal, en la que los grupos armados diversificaron sus fuentes de ingresos, incorporando delitos como el contrabando de minerales, la trata de personas, el tráfico de armas, la extorsión, el secuestro y el lavado de activos. Pero ahora, hemos entrado en una etapa aún más peligrosa: la consolidación criminal.

Esta consolidación implica una fusión alarmante entre la criminalidad, el control social y la toma de poder político. Uno de los casos más preocupantes de esta tendencia es Colombia, un país que había logrado reducir significativamente sus índices de criminalidad en los últimos 25 años, sobre todo tras los acuerdos de paz con las FARC. Sin embargo, los recientes atentados —como el ataque contra el senador Miguel Uribe y más de una docena de acciones terroristas en ciudades como Cali— parecen marcar un giro hacia el pasado, con claros signos de retroceso en materia de seguridad, que evocan los días más oscuros del narcotráfico.

Colombia representa hoy el epicentro de lo que podríamos llamar un cóctel autoritario que comienza con la erosión de la democracia. Desde la elección del presidente Gustavo Petro, la polarización política se ha intensificado de manera preocupante. Los ataques a la institucionalidad, especialmente al Congreso, y la constante estigmatización de los opositores, forman parte de una narrativa cada vez más autoritaria. A este deterioro institucional se suma un resurgimiento del crimen organizado: asesinatos de líderes sociales, reclutamiento forzado de menores, y un récord histórico en cultivos de coca —casi 300.000 hectáreas— revelan una realidad que amenaza con sepultar los avances logrados.

En este contexto, el papel del régimen de Nicolás Maduro resulta clave para entender por qué Colombia parece regresar al pasado. Durante años, Venezuela ha servido como refugio y plataforma para grupos narcoterroristas, a quienes el chavismo ha ofrecido protección a cambio de financiamiento y respaldo político. Hoy, el ELN opera como una especie de “guardia fronteriza” del régimen venezolano, controlando territorios, traficando migrantes, armas y cocaína, e incluso planificando acciones desestabilizadoras contra Colombia desde suelo venezolano.

Lejos de promover la paz, Maduro ha instrumentalizado el conflicto colombiano como herramienta de chantaje político. Ha condicionado su papel como “mediador” a la normalización de su dictadura, y recientemente ha acusado a Estados Unidos de intentar derrocar al presidente Petro —una narrativa que han replicado tanto las disidencias de las FARC como el propio mandatario colombiano. Esta coincidencia discursiva no es menor: refleja la fragilidad institucional de Colombia, y la permeabilidad de su liderazgo frente a influencias externas.

Estos acontecimientos revelan no solo una crisis interna, con un presidente dispuesto a tensar los límites del poder y explotar la división social para sus propios fines, sino también una vulnerabilidad regional más amplia. Colombia difícilmente podrá aspirar a una paz duradera mientras Venezuela siga siendo un santuario para estructuras criminales que socavan la soberanía y la estabilidad democrática.

La dictadura de Maduro, con su respaldo irrestricto a grupos terroristas y su apertura geopolítica a potencias como China, Rusia, Irán y Cuba, representa hoy uno de los principales desafíos para el orden democrático en América Latina. Pensar que estas potencias se limitan a instalarse en Venezuela sin buscar expandir su influencia sería ingenuo. Venezuela se ha convertido en una cabeza de playa desde la cual se proyecta una agenda autoritaria y antioccidental que busca socavar los valores democráticos en todo el hemisferio, disfrazada de cooperación económica y solidaridad internacional.

Colombia se encuentra en una encrucijada histórica. El retorno a los patrones de violencia y captura territorial por parte de actores armados no es solo un problema de seguridad: es una manifestación de la fragilidad democrática en un país que, por décadas, ha estado atrapado entre la guerra y la esperanza.

La consolidación criminal, el debilitamiento institucional y la influencia de regímenes autoritarios externos componen un triángulo de inestabilidad que debe ser enfrentado con claridad, firmeza y visión regional. La paz no es un decreto: es un proceso colectivo que requiere Estado de derecho, justicia social y soberanía territorial real. Y, sobre todo, la paz en Colombia no será posible mientras la dictadura en Venezuela siga exportando violencia, refugiando terroristas y cultivando una agenda autoritaria que no conoce fronteras.

Former Biden-era White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre abruptly left the Democratic Party in her rear-view mirror, announcing in June that she had become an Independent after spending more than two years as President Joe Biden’s top spokesperson and defender. 

«Our country has become obsessed with blind loyalty to a two-party democratic system. In her new book, timed for publication just one year after the 2024 election, Karine Jean-Pierre shares why Americans must begin to look beyond party lines and why she chose to embrace life as an Independent,» a press release announcing Jean-Pierre’s upcoming book, «Independent,» stated while revealing that the former spox had ditched the Democratic Party. 

«Jean-Pierre didn’t come to her decision to be an Independent lightly, she has served two American presidents, Obama and Biden. . . . She takes us through the three weeks that led to Biden’s abandoning his bid for a second term and the betrayal by the Democratic Party that led to his decision,» the press release continued. 

Fox News Digital took a look back at Jean-Pierre’s history as press secretary – which spanned from May 13, 2022, until January 20, 2025 – including the most partisan stances and statements she made in defense of the administration as the immigration crisis spiraled to new highs, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the administration embraced transgender issues, and the White House’s heated rhetoric aimed at President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election. 

FORMER BIDEN OFFICIALS RIDICULE KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’S BOOK AS ‘BIZARRE CASH GRAB’

«We are not finishing a wall. We are cleaning up the mess that the prior administration made. We are trying to save lives. This is what the prior administration left behind that we are now cleaning up,» Jean-Pierre declared from the White House briefing room’s podium in July of 2022, as the Biden administration said it would not continue work on the Trump administration’s border wall. 

 «A border wall is an ineffective use of taxpayer dollars, so it’s ineffective,» she added. 

Months later, as Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed U.S. officials to turn away migrants who came to the U.S.-Mexico border because of health concerns was set to expire, Jean-Pierre argued, «It would be wrong to think that the border is open. It is not open.»

BIDEN-ERA WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS EXPRESS DISBELIEF ON KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’S SUDDEN PARTY SWITCH

Migrants attempting to cross in to the U.S. from Mexico are detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the border on August 20, 2022, in San Luis, Arizona.  (Nick Ut/Getty Images)

Critics at the time slammed the press secretary over the comment, calling the comment a «bold-faced lie» as migrants were seen coming across the border with little consequences. 

The Biden administration was in power when the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision effectively ending the recognition of abortion as a constitutional right in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in June of 2022, with Jean-Pierre calling the ruling «extreme.» 

«When the Supreme Court made that extreme decision on Dobbs, it really put a lot of families and women’s lives at risk,» she said during a press conference in July of 2022. 

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE SWITCHES AFFILIATION TO INDEPENDENT, RELEASING NEW BOOK ABOUT ‘BROKEN’ BIDEN WHITE HOUSE

The Biden White House frequently celebrated LGBTQ holidays during its four years, including fiercely defending transgender issues and policies that the Trump administration has since ended. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

«Tomorrow is Trans Visibility Day,» Jean-Pierre said during a March 2023 press conference slamming Republicans who put forth legislation that aimed to keep biological boys out of girls’ sports and end transgender surgeries for minors. «On a day that we should be lifting up our trans kids and our trans youth and making sure that they feel seen, we’re seen more and more of these hateful, hateful bills.»

«We’ve been very clear about these anti-LGBTQ bills that we’re seeing in state legislatures across the country, in particular these anti-trans bills, as they attack trans kids, as they attack trans parents. It is shameful, and it is unacceptable,» she added. 

In the months leading up to Election Day, Trump faced two separate assassination attempts, including one in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign rally in July that left him with an injury to the side of his head after a bullet whizzed towards him, and another in September when a man attempted to kill Trump while he played golf in Florida. 

President Trump survived an assassination attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania in July. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

«It’s been only two days since somebody allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump again, and you’re here at the podium in the White House briefing room calling him a threat,» Fox News’ Peter Doocy pressed during a news conference in September of 2024. «How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and the vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump other than ‘threat’?»

Then-Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden had both repeatedly claimed that «Democracy is on the ballot» last year amid Trump’s re-election campaign. While the White House, Biden and Harris additionally described Trump as a «threat» to democracy, Fox Digital previously extensively reported. 

BIDEN BOOK AUTHOR REVEALS HOW WHITE HOUSE STAFF TRULY FELT ABOUT KARINE JEAN-PIERRE AS PRESS SECRETARY

President Joe Biden speaks at an event just days before his administration ended.  (AP/Susan Walsh)

Jean-Pierre exhaled in a sign of disapproval before answering: «Peter, if anything, from this administration, I actually completely disagree with the premise of your question, the question that you’re asking. It is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you are asking it, because American people are watching. And to say that, when you start bringing political rhetoric. . . . That is not okay.»

«There are people watching at home who might miss the part where you say, let’s lower the temperature. And there are mentally unstable people who are attempting to kill political candidates, attempting to kill Donald Trump. And they are still hearing this White House refer to him as a threat. Is there no concern?» Doocy continued in the press conference. 

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«We’re using examples. We’re not just saying that just to say it,» Jean-Pierre responded. 

Reacciones

Edificios dañados durante ataques aéreos israelíes, en Teherán, Irán. Foto Xinhua

Un grupo de personas inspeccionan un edificio destruido por un misil lanzado desde Irán, cerca de Tel Aviv, Israel. Foto AP