Armed Conflicts, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

COLOMBIA: A Chance for Peace

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 22 2011 (IPS) - The Colombian government’s greater openness to dialogue and the recent release of hostages by that country’s FARC guerrillas have created a climate in which it is possible to move in the direction of a negotiated solution to an armed conflict that has dragged on for nearly half a decade.

That was the view expressed by Latin American and European political leaders, academics and peace activists meeting in Buenos Aires in the Feb. 21-23 Haciendo la Paz en Colombia (Making Peace in Colombia) forum organised by former senator Piedad Córdoba.

In a conversation with IPS, Córdoba, who was removed from her seat in the Senate in September 2010 accused of “promoting and collaborating” with the insurgents, remarked that “the most important thing” in today’s new circumstances is “the hint of disposition on the part of the government to achieve peace.”

Conservative President Juan Manuel Santos took office in August 2010, after two four-year terms of right-wing President Álvaro Uribe, whose “democratic security” policies aggravated the armed conflict and its extremely serious social and economic consequences.

Santos has a “more conciliatory attitude,” said former Liberal Party president Ernesto Samper (1994-1998), who took part in the conference by means of a video recording in which he also expressed his gratitude for the growing international solidarity with the Colombian people.

“That is something that we must capitalise on,” said Córdoba, director of Colombians for Peace, the movement that organised the three-day meeting in the Argentine capital to discuss ways to move towards a peace process in Colombia.

In a document presented at the start of the conference, the organisers warned that the conflict in Colombia “threatens to overflow” and “should be a wakeup call to the ethical conscience of humanity as a whole.”

The report calls for the “humanisation” of the conflict and the construction of peace with social justice, overcoming the failed attempts of the past, and taking advantage of the greater openness of the government and insurgent groups.

Spanish scholar and politician Federico Mayor Zaragoza, the president of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, and Argentine human rights activist and Nobel peace laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel were among the personalities taking part in the opening session Monday.

The aim of the conference is to discuss the need for a peace process, the role of the international community, past experiences in resolving armed conflicts around the world, and humanitarian law.

Córdoba said that until the armed conflict can be brought to an end, “the ethics of humanisation” should prevail: humanitarian treatment for prisoners and the injured and respect for human rights in general.

Positive recent developments underscored by the participants were the release of hostages by the main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which takes hostages with the aim of swapping them for imprisoned insurgents.

Argentine political scientist Atilio Borón, invited to speak about the role of the international community in the peace process, said the FARC “made an outstanding gesture by unilaterally releasing a significant number of hostages.”

Santos “should acknowledge this fact by sitting down at the table to reach a negotiated solution,” he argued. “Unfortunately that has not happened yet, but in this international forum, we urge that he do so, as was done in Ireland, Guatemala or El Salvador.”

The lessons learned in peace processes discussed at the conference included the case of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) of El Salvador, represented by Nidia Diaz, a long-time leader of the former leftwing insurgent group that is now the governing party in that Central American nation.

Díaz told IPS that in Colombia, the position taken by the government, international solidarity and the humanisation of the conflict are key. “So far there have been hostage releases, but the other side also has to show some willingness,” she said.

El Salvador’s armed conflict lasted 12 years (1980-1992) and the peace talks took eight years, noted Díaz, a member of the FMLN National Council.

“It wasn’t easy, but good sense won out in the end,” she said. “The attempt to reach a military solution only brought destruction and the loss of human lives, and almost no progress for the country. A political agreement is needed to put an end to the causes that give rise to a conflict.”

But the participants said progress must be made now in terms of respect for human rights, such as better care for the wounded and prisoners, among other aspects related to the armed conflict that could help pave the way to a peace agreement.

They also agreed that circumstances in the region are favourable to the backing of an eventual peace process in Colombia through the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), made up of that country and 11 others.

Pérez Esquivel challenged the bloc “to play a leading role in achieving peace in Colombia,” as it did when it took a stand against the installation of U.S. military bases in Colombia.

He also said the United States shared a large part of the responsibility for Colombia’s civil war, and urged the government of that country to modify its policy towards the region, and especially Colombia.

Córdoba also said Washington has a role to play. “We have to wait and see, but at least they have reached decisions that have reduced support for the war. Whatever the reasons behind that, we see it as important.”

Mayor Zaragoza said the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama “should form part of this global clamour of Colombians for Peace.”

He told IPS that of Obama “we would expect much more than continued support for the use of force, which is what we have seen up to now,” and called on the U.S. to sponsor a conference or meeting to discuss the question of drug trafficking.

“Santos’ positions show a considerable change, and there is also disposition on the part of the FARC and the ELN (the National Liberation Army, the second-biggest insurgency in Colombia),” said Mayor Zaragoza, a former director general of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation. “That’s why we believe it is time to throw real support behind the work of Colombians for Peace.”