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An article by Greg Grandin in The Nation

There’s still a lot to work out—on land, disarmament, refugees, paramilitary power—and many things can go wrong, but it seems Colombia’s decades-long civil war is ending. The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have announced that they “have successfully reached an agreement for a definitive bilateral ceasefire and end to hostilities.” Depending on how you date it, you could say the war has been raging since the early 1960s, 1948, or even as far back as the 1920s. Fighting started well before TV was a household item, when few Colombians owned telephones. Now it’s ending with a tweet: “On Thursday, June 23, we will announce the last day of the war,” FARC commander Carlos Lozada wrote to his followers on Twitter.

You can read the text of the final disarmament accord here. According to the Washington Office on Latin America, this agreement “closes the fifth of five substantive items on the FARC-government negotiating agenda. It sets out a roadmap for disarming and demobilizing the FARC after a final peace accord is signed. It foresees a swift process: a full turnover of guerrilla weapons within six months. This is a tremendous milestone. What remains between now and a final, conflict-ending peace accord are details. Some of these will be thorny, and may require weeks or even a few months to unravel. But the hardest parts of the FARC peace process are now in the past.”

The Nation has covered Colombia well over the many decades of the war. Last October, Winifred Tate and I discussed what was at stake—especially around land, paramilitary power, and internal refugees, of which Colombia has millions—in the peace talks, and what obstacles might sideline them. Here, I discussed a story not reported in the US press, of the at least 54 Colombian children sexually abused by US soldiers and contractors.

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What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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Six years ago, Teo Ballvé did an excellent report for the magazine on the “dark side of Plan Colombia,” on how the billions of dollars authorized for Colombia by Clinton, and continued under Bush and Obama, helped narco-traffickers steal massive amounts of land to plant crops for biofuels. Going back to 1948, the journalist Herbert Matthews, also in these pages, wrote that the assassination of left-liberal leader Jorge Gaitán was a “lighted match dropped into an open gasoline tin.” He was right. Days of rioting gave way to decades of civil war, hundreds of thousands of lives lost, millions driven out of their homes, a fire only now hopefully doused.

If you search for Colombia on The Nation’s website, you will see how key the country has been in regional politics. Returned stories come back on Cuba, Iran/Contra, Panama, Israel, immigration, drugs, Central America, death squads, Iraq, private security forces, and so on, giving an indication of the key role Colombia, and its war, has played on the larger foreign stage, particularly in the paramilitarization of global politics that took place with the rise of the New Right in the United States. Colombia was to broader Latin America, a good analogy goes, what Israel is to the broader Middle East, a stalking-horse proxy that has allowed Washington to project its power into a critical region. The end of the war promises to change that relation, perhaps integrating Colombia more fully into Latin America, a process that picked up steam with the election of the current president, Juan Manuel Santos.

The signing of this final accord took place in Havana, a testament both to Cuba’s historic role at the beginning of Latin America’s Cold War insurgent left and to its current role as peacemaker. By any standard that judged Barack Obama and Henry Kissinger worthy of Nobel Peace Prizes, Raúl Castro deserves a laurel for his steadfast help in negotiating an end to hostilities. Here’s what Castro had to say at the signing:

“The peace process has reached a point of no return. Peace is a victory for all of Colombia, but also a victory for Our America. The short history of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States has led to the proclamation of this region as a Zone of Peace.… The achievement of peace in Colombia represents a hope for millions of people on the planet, whose main concern continues to be human survival in a world shake by violence and wars. Peace is not a utopia; it is a legitimate right of every human being and of all peoples. It is a fundamental condition for the enjoyment of all human rights, particularly the supreme right to life.”

Quoting José Martí, Castro ended his remarks by insisting that “homeland is humanity” (a good sentiment to keep in mind, considering events on the other side of the Atlantic).

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An article by Nazareth Balbas in RT (translated by CPNN and abbreviated)

Although the announcement of the signing of the agreement on the end of the armed conflict in Colombia was received with joy; however, for artists and cultural activists from the South American country, the agreement in Havana is just the beginning of a more complex disarmament process: the language of violence.

“We have to to disarm our words because they are still loaded with violence. That will take a lot of pedagogy and here culture can help a lot. We need to heal, to seek the truth, to have some kind of repair,” notes Sergio Restrepo, cultural manager and director of Teatro Pablo Tobon of Medellin, in an interview with RT.

Restrepo, who heard the announcement while in Brussels, believes that the signing of the agreement is a positive point but that “it will take thick skin” to tackle the next stage, not only because expectations are very high but “because the country is going to polarize more and that will be used, no doubt, for electoral purposes “.

In addition to the polarization which is expected in the public sphere, the initialling of the agreement will make visible some realities that remained buried by the conflict, warns Restrepo: Thousands of people must be demobilized and join the civil society. There are deep social inequalities that must be resolved to prevent the resurgence of armed groups. And the state must become present in areas that have historically been marginalized.

This process will have to be done in the midst of a difficult economic context for Colombia, which this year has been affected by falling oil prices and coal exports, as well as the depreciation of its currency against the dollar. The challenge, says Restrepo, is to put the country back on the growth path, and the government must ensure that this leads to a more equitable society.

“We will not overcome the conflict quickly because there are many conflicting interests and tempers are frayed. Peace cannot be achieved only through negotiation or ceasefire between the government and the FARC; for now, we are in the stage of a post-agreement, not yet post-conflict, “said Restrepo.

For the director of the International Poetry Festival of Medellin, Fernando Rendon, the signing of the bilateral ceasefire “is the realization of a dream of several decades and several generations of Colombians who have suffered firsthand all the cruelty of the painful and bloody conflict. ”

For Rendon the news found him in the middle of the event that brings in Medellin, the second largest city in Colombia, hundreds of national and international poets: “Not only a new era of reconciliation and resumption of dialogue opens between divergent positions, but this will strengthen our struggle for beauty and for coexistence, “he said in an interview with RT.

(Click here for the original Spanish version)

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Rendon, like Restrepo believes that this is just the beginning of a long road. “What comes next is a post-agreement (…) The social conflict is not over, even less the political conflict and the cultural conflict, because we still have a culture of slaughter, violence and exploitation rather than what is needed, the idea of ​​a homeland for freedom, for creation and for democratic expression. ”

He confesses that his feelings are mixed. On the one hand, the joy of the expectation that “Colombia can live in peace after a hell of war, and now we can begin a period of prosperity and the cultural flowering of a new generous spirit”. On the other hand, fear of a repeat of our history of failed commitments.

“We hope the government understands that the conflict is not only with the guerrillas but between the state and the people. We need a structured dialogue with the deep Colombia jungle, with the countryside, the grassroots, all of Colombian society, before we can be certain of lasting peace, “he says.

The director of the Festival of Manizales, Octavio Arbelaez, considers that the agreement is not the last day of the war, but it enables us to see peace as “a possible utopia within our reach”.

“It’s the beginning of the end of a period of intensification of contradictions that gave rise to the most violent forms of confrontation,” he told RT. This is the problem, he says, at the core of the conflict: fear in social relationships that “saps the body’s energy and the ability to build a world of conversation and imagination”.

While noting that Colombia has made great strides in cooling off social confrontations, as evident in the decline in the number of victims of the conflict in recent years, “violence remains an area about which little is spoken and which in many cases is feared. This is a significant area in which we must work as people of culture “.

Culture, he insists, is ideal for generating nodes and “spaces for peace, dialogue and social participation”. There is already some progress in grassroots communities, but there is not yet enough “link between their networks of conversation and action, in a context where there remain levels of exclusion against those with roots going back into the worlds of Africa and the indigenous “says Arbelaez.

“Dialogues of the nation without exclusion, that is what we need,” he adds. . . .

The signing of the treaty is only a beginning, according to Arbelaez. Now we enter “the stage of post-agreement, an agreement that must be culturally appropriate, to allow the emergence of new dimensions of a democratic culture with spaces and times of freedom and creativity.”

It is also the entry point where Restrepo dreams of a country that is possible but so far unknown, “one where we live with our differences, where we can build stories from everyday life and where we can close the social gap in Colombia” .

“May the spirit of this agreement be transmitted to ordinary people in everyday life, which is the great creator of our destiny. My hope is that this dialogue will permeate all walks of life to start together the struggle for existence, for beauty, for love, for life, “said Rendón. .

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At CPNN we have received numerous statements welcoming the recent ceasefire in Colombia. Here are some of them.

Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations:

“Today the Colombian peace process validates the perseverance of all those around the world who work to end violent conflict not through the destruction of the adversary, but through the patient search for compromise,”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, President of Colombia, at the ceremony in Havana for the signing of a ceasefire
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Amada Benavides, FUNDACIÓN ESCUELAS DE PAZ, Colombia:

Today at 12:39 when President Santos and the FARC leader signed the agreement, all of us, our partners and myself, only can to cry. After 60 years of war, we not really believe what it happened in that moment. Many of us never think in could seeing this moment. 

At night, we had a workshop about WOMEN, DIVERSITY AND PEACE and the feeling turned between hope, fear and anxiety. Hope for the possibilities the agreement has. Fear for many populations is not yet convinced in the benefits of peace; and anxiety for all the work we have in this moment.

Peacebuilding moment starts just now. Today we need more support than ever.

Thanks for your words and solidarity.

PEACE NOW…. PEACE EDUCATION THE WAY. 

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Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile:

“El poder llegar a esta etapa, de este nivel de acuerdo, que significa el fin del conflicto armado, a la definición de un cronograma muy claro de cómo se va a implementar este proceso y asegurar que los colombianos puedan vivir por primera vez en paz, creo que es algo realmente histórico.”

(CPNN translation: “The ability to reach this stage, this level of agreement, which means the end of the armed conflict, defining a very clear timetable of how to implement this process and ensure that Colombians can live for the first time in peace, I think it is something truly historic ”

Kofi Annan, Chair of The Elders:

“We are encouraged by the work so far accomplished in Havana and by the perseverance of both parties in moving the peace process towards a successful conclusion. We commend the important roles that Norway and Cuba are playing as guarantors and Chile and Venezuela as accompanying countries, as well as the US. We also welcome the role a United Nations political mission will play in providing independent and credible international verification of the ceasefire.”

Ernesto Zedillo, member of The Elders:

“Colombia is on the cusp of reaching an historic agreement. The Colombian people deserve peace and I sincerely hope they will seize this opportunity to end the violence they have lived through for generations, to bring redress for millions of victims, and to bring real opportunities to the people of the regions most affected by conflict. Peace is not an event but a process. It must be a national project, bringing together all Colombian patriots in an inclusive fashion, across political rifts, to have a respectful debate when they vote on the agreements and to ensure they are fully implemented.”

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An article from News Marti (translated by CPNN)

On Thursday, June 23, Colombia ended over half a century of bloody armed conflict, with the signing of a historic agreement for ceasefire and disarmament between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC ).

The delegate of the FARC in Cuba, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias “Timoshenko” (right) and the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos (left) with the president of Cuba, Raul Castro (center) with the peace agreement in their hands.
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The final peace agreement will be signed in Colombia, said the president of that country Juan Manuel Santos, who thanked Cuba and Raul Castro for hosting the peace process.

At a ceremony held in Havana, Santos and the commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Rodrigo Londoño, or ‘Timoshenko’, listened to the reading of an agreement detailing how some 7,000 rebels will lay down arms and how they will demobilize once the final peace agreement is signed.

The announcement was made by the delegates of the guarantor countries, Cuba and Norway, in the presence of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the presidents of Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Venezuela, among others in the region.

“The decision of the parties represents a breakthrough step, the peace process is irreversible,” said the president of Cuba, Raul Castro. “Peace will be the victory of all Colombia but also throughout our America.”

The FARC agreed to surrender their weapons and leave them in the hands of the UN, which will build three monuments with them.

(Click here for the original Spanish article)

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The bilateral ceasefire and surrender of the weapons will begin with the signing of the final peace agreement and this last point will have a term development of 180 days.

To this end, a monitoring group composed of delegates from the UN will be created by the FARC and the Colombian government to verify the delivery of the guns.

Also announced was he creation of areas and camps for demobilized guerrillas and commitment by the authorities to combat paramilitary groups, by means of a special unit of the Colombian police.

It will also seek to protect political parties, including the movement that “emerge” from the transition from the FARC to civil and political life.

There are still outstanding issues related to the countersignature of agreements to give legal and legal support to them so that they cannot be overturned by a subsequent government. Santos’s mandate ends in August 2018.

“The final peace agreement will be signed in Colombia”, Santos said. “Today I finally thank Cuba and President Raul Castro, our generous host.”

The former president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, is opposed to the peace process. He said that with this agreement, “the word peace has been wounded” and the Colombian Constitution and international treaties have been violated.

“The word peace has been wounded by accepted those responsible for crimes against humanity such as kidnapping, car bombs, recruitment of children and rape of girls, and by allowing them to spend not a single day in jail and to be elected to public positions,” he said in a statement.

“Impunity, besides being the midwife of further violence, means that the Agreements of Havana is in violation of the Constitution and international treaties to which Colombia is a signatory,” said Uribe.

The former president, who has not been in favor of dialogue with the guerrillas, began several weeks ago a campaign of “civil resistance” to the Havana agreements, including collecting signatures and public demonstrations.

Uribe said Thursday that the Santos government has agreed to “negotiate with terrorists” our democratic model, economic freedoms and social policies.”