The Águilas Negras, or Black Eagles, are a non-cohesive group dedicated to

protecting the economic interests of former mid-level paramilitary commanders

scattered across Colombia. Águilas Negras is often used as a generic term to describe
the many fragments of ex-paramilitaries still trafficking drugs across Colombia.
Frequently, paramilitary successors who have continued threatening or murdering
journalists, lawyers and human rights activists have done so using the Águilas
Negras name. This political bent, along with their lack of a central leadership,
distinguishes them in part from the other criminal groups operating in Colombia.

History
The Águilas Negras emerged between 2004 and 2006, amidst Colombia's
problematic demobilization of the AUC. The AUC was an umbrella organization of
death squads – some of them formed in the 1980s – focused on two goals: fighting
leftist guerrillas and making money, mostly through drug trafficking. One important
faction, led by Carlos Castaño, tried to emphasize the AUC’s right-wing ideology and
present the group as a political organization. This led to internal disputes within the
AUC, and the fragile coalition broke as paramilitary leaders competed among
themselves for territory, triggering horrific massacres and displacements. On 15 July
2003, the AUC agreed to enter negotiations with the government. In return for
dismantling their forces and aiding criminal investigations, top AUC leaders were
promised a degree of amnesty. A series of major disarmaments followed, and by
2006, 31,671 purported fighters had left the conflict.

The demobilization, however, proved to be a false peace. Most paramilitary blocs

only handed in a small fraction of their weapons. Young men were paid to falsely
present themselves as ex-AUC combatants, while middle-level command remained
untouched. Across Colombia, smaller paramilitary units kept their arms and
remained in rural areas. Disguised as civilians they continued to run the same
criminal enterprises: protecting coca cultivations, extorting land-owners and
business contractors, persecuting human-rights activists and so on. In contrast to
pre-2004 AUC blocs, most successor groups did not bother to present themselves

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as enemies of leftist guerrillas. In fact many would later ally with former supposed
enemies, as occurred between the Popular Revolutionary Antiterrorist Army of
Colombia (ERPAC) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Colombian media and government has used "Águilas Negras" as a shifting and not
strictly defined term. For example, the organization led by Daniel Rendon Herrera,
and made up of ex-combatants from the Elmer Cardenas bloc, was at one time
described as the Águilas Negras. The group would later evolve and become known
as criminal group the Urabeños. Post-AUC drug traffickers operating in Antioquia
and Cordoba have been referred to as the "Águilas Negras of the North." At other
times, groups threatening lawyers, human-rights defenders and union leaders, have
done so under the Águilas Negras name.

Armed groups using the Águilas Negras title first appeared in 2006 in Catatumbo,
Northern Santander and Nariño, some of Colombia's densest coca cultivation areas.
Águilas Negras groups then began appearing in places valued as cocaine transit
routes, such as Cordoba department's southern municipalities.

Controlling former AUC drug trafficking corridors went hand in hand with protecting
paramilitary land interests. In places like Cordoba, which saw some of the largest
displacements by the AUC, the Águilas Negras were blamed for killing activists
advocating for land repatriation. Similar threats against displaced activists have been
registered in Santander. Armed groups styling themselves as the Águilas Negras
have also spurred displacements in Sucre, Choco and the Uraba region in Antioquia.

The appearance of the Águilas Negras was accompanied by the emergence of

dozens of other criminal groups, usually linked to drug trafficking and targeted
killings. A 2006 study by local think-tank Indepaz listed 62 active paramilitary
successor groups in Colombia. It is possible that in some areas, low-level street
gangs simply adopt the name "Águilas Negras" to better intimidate extortion and
land theft victims.

Leadership
There is little evidence that the Águilas Negras operate as a systematic organization.
Instead, it appears to be the blanket name for the many successor groups willing to
adapt the AUC’s tactics and, in many cases, its political discourse. Demobilized
paramilitaries will likely make up the upper ranks of a given Águilas Negras group.
Lower ranks may be composed of recruits dedicated to drug trafficking or other
criminal activity.

Geography

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Groups using the Águilas Negras name have appeared in at least 20 of Colombia’s
32 departments, including Nariño, Cauca, Casanare, Guajira, Magdalena, Bolivar,
Northern Santander, Santander, Bolivar, Sucre and Cordoba. Cells have also been
reported in the Venezuelan states of Tachira and Zulia. The Águilas Negras have
generally built upon criminal networks established by their paramilitary
predecessors. They are not known to control any transnational cocaine shipment
routes.

Allies and Enemies

Individual Águilas Negras groups are known to compete with rival gangs and drug
traffickers over criminal interests as well as cooperate with former paramilitary-
enemies like the FARC and the ELN.

Prospects
Due to their structure it is impossible to track down and dismantle any Águilas Negras
central leadership. Tracking the Águilas Negras' ascendancy or decline is difficult as
various armed groups lay claim to the name. In 2011 Colombia passed legislation
opening the way to for comprehensive land reform and repatriation. There is a risk
that Águilas Negras groups may be contracted to intimidate those whose land
repatriation efforts threaten economic interests.

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