After more than 50 years of internal war, 600.000 deaths and more than 4.5 million victims, Colombians, lead by President Juan Manuel Santos, attempt to resolve its internal conflict through a new negotiation settlement with the guerrilla rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
This historical moment came after numerous efforts from different governments to seize the existing conflict both through the military and the negotiated way. In this case, the Government of Colombia has managed to sit once more with the FARC on a five-point peace agenda. This agenda was agreed to be discussed under strict rules such as:
- The negotiations will be held under military action in the Colombian territory, which means there will be no disarmament of either parts, and the Colombian Army will be defending the territory as always.
- The conversations will be held outside Colombia in order to maintain them in reserve. There will be no discussion with the media or any other on what's going on the negotiation table.
- There will be no unlimited time for the negotiations. The length will be subject to revision throughout the advances in time.
- The process has a clear three-phase structure.
- The conversations will be held under the principle of "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed".
- The Colombian citizens will be the ones to agree whether they accept or not the agreement through a referendum.
PHASE 1 – The Exploratory Phase
The first phase of the process began in August 2010 lead by Sergio Jaramillo, High Commissioner for Peace of the Republic of Colombia, and a team of respectful civilians. This exploratory phase, that lasted two years, set up the conditions of the agreement with the FARC. As a result, a document called the "General Agreement for the End of the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace" was signed at the beginning of September 2012.
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| Foto: www.mesadeconversaciones.com |
This agreement consists of a five point agenda and it's implementation. The topics are:
- Land reform
- Political participation
- Drug trafficking
- Victims rights
- Disarmament
- The last discussion will be on the verification, implementation and referendum mechanism.
The Agreement was signed in Oslo with delegates of the Republic of Norway, Cuba, Venezuela and Chile who have been chosen to serve as guarantors of the process. Currently the negotiation is being held in the Habana, Cuba.
PHASE 2 – The End of Conflict
On September 4, 2012, President Juan Manuel Santos addressed the Country through National Television revealing, to the Colombians and the World, the beginning of the peace talks with the FARC rebels. Unfortunately there is no English version on President Santo's declaration, but you can watch the original Spanish version here .
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| Foto: www.presidencia.gov.co |
Today, the first three points of the agenda regarding land reform, political participation and drug trafficking have already been agreed. The two remaining points related to the rights of victims and the disarmament of the rebels are currently being discussed in parallel. If the negotiators are capable of solving these two last issues, they will then have to discuss the implementation of the peace deal. At the end, Colombians will have the right to decide if they want to implement it or not through a referendum.
Though President Juan Manuel Santos expected this negotiation process to last no more than a year, the conversations are still begin held in Cuba.
PHASE 3 – Peace Construction
More information on the Peace Talks:
The Government’s official information about the peace process has not yet been translated to English. In this page you will find the information in Spanish www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co and in www.mesadeconversaciones.com
BBC News: Q&A about the Colombian peace talks http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19875363
Great post Diana! This is an issue I know so little about, and it's great to to learn so much about the issue through your information, visuals, and other external outlets. I especially like how you're using #SoyCapaz as a way to still contribute to the Colombian effort, creating an international discussion. You also do a nice job of keeping the post organized and laying all the fact out in a simple way to read. Is there a timeline for the third phase? It would be interesting to hear how they will approach the implementation of the agreement. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteHey Bess! Thanks for the interest. The truth is that there is no timeline. The commitment from both sides is to agree the agenda the fastest possible. It was supposed to last one year, but two years have already passed. The facts is peace negotiations can last 5 years or more, but we are all hoping to have the agreements by the first semester of 2015.
ReplyDeleteThe 4th and 5th points are being currently discussed. The 4th point is going to take more time than the others because groups of victims are currently being heard in the negotiation table in the Havana in order to really understand what should be done to repair the more than 5 million victims that this conflict has left in my Country. The point about disarmament is being held in parallel. We still don't know any conclusion because these documents are not final and haven't been disclosed yet.
Sorry that I don't have an answer for your last question, but how the implementation will be done is also an issue that they will be discussing in the negotiation table. What I do know is that the Government is currently working on securing the money for the estimated costs of the implementation, by tax reforms that would permit them to collect more money for the cause and by asking the international community for help.