FARC - The Trawler.org
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HERNÁNDEZ: “De vuelta al Cagúan”, (El Tiempo, CO)
239 days ago by Laura.GomezThere are many who don’t believe in the peace negotiations between the government and the FARC. Hernández Bolívar in his column in El Tiempo states that after listening to Iván Marquéz, the FARC member, talking in Oslo it would be very naïve to keep thinking of the possibility of peace in Colombia.
According to Hernández the FARC don’t have good intentions in this process and all they want is power and they are using this space to gain international recognition. Many voices have risen to demand a peace process without impunity.
Moreover, few others also pointed out that the violence would most likely increase after the peace agreement, therefore people are doubting about the real utility of the process. Guerrilla groups that have signed peace agreements before in Colombia have gone to the negotiations expressing their desire of not only cease-fire but also abandoning their extremist ideology thinking, but not the FARC. , Therefore, according to Hernández, to keep thinking that this is a great chance for peace is a very naïve statement.(link to the article)
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KALMANOVITZ: “La negociación de paz”, (El Espectador, CO)
240 days ago by Laura.GomezKalmanovitz writes today in El Espectador about the peace negotiation between the government and the FARC. First of all he states that the Humberto de la Calle in his speech demanded a respectful treatment of all the parts participating in the talks. For its part, the FARC proposed the “regularization of the war” since that would keep them away from the international humanitarian law, which they violate constantly. Kalmanovitz suggests that they should instead commit to stop the blowing of towers, planting landmines, and throwing grenades. The war should be humanized.
The political participation of the FARC in the country would be in a very complicated scenario where the left wing is discredited for its clientelistic structure and corruption. The writer doubts that the FARC could develop a futurist vision of the country, democratic and inclusive, and confront the vicious of the Colombian politics.
He states that it is probable that the FARC are going to be able to take control of their historical territories,one reason why the government should think in terms of regionalization, with local governments based on high royalties funding and cooperation funds. (link to the article)
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EDITORIAL: “El comienzo del comienzo” (El Espectador, CO)
241 days ago by Laura.GomezOnce again El Espectador’s Editorial is dedicated to the peace negotiations between the government and the FARC. It states that there were many disappointed voices after the formal launching of the second stage of the negotiations in Olso: the actual negotiation. According to the newspaper, the big difference between the speech given by the government, which followed the agreed points with the FARC, and the guerrilla, which wanted to include more issues than the ones accorded, was a disappointment for the optimistic.
It would have been naïve thinking that the FARC would have acted different yesterday, and that there would have been consensus about a 50-year long conflict. What is important about yesterday, however, is that the FARC and the government are trying to find a way to solve the problem, but that doesn’t mean that there are not differences between the two.
Humberto de la Calle, the chief government negotiator, showed patience and intelligence to confront the disappointment that FARC’s speech caused. Colombians should have patience to welcome this space of negotiation, which opens the doors to the FARC to expose their vision of the country.
The Editorial points out that there are going to be many obstacles on the way. Victims’ reparation is one of those problems that doesn’t seem to be taking into account as one of the most important issues. If there is no reparation, there is no end to any conflict, and victims have to be recognized and taken as a priority.
The Editorial concludes that it is positive that expectations have decreased since yesterday, because as De la Calle stated, the government is not a hostage of this process, and if the FARC don’t act as it promised, the government is going to stop the negotiations. The path is very long and we have to be ready to the possibility of failure. (link to the article)
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EDITORIAL: “Oslo, primera etapa”, (El Tiempo, CO)
245 days ago by Laura.GomezEl Tiempo’s Editorial today is dedicated to the peace negotiations in Oslo. This week brings Norway’s fourth attempt to stop the confrontation between the FARC and the Colombian State. The country once again is looking positively to the idea of ending the conflict that has cost approximately five billion pesos per year, plus thousands of victims, hatred, revenge and the wounds of the social fabric.
According to the Editorial, this time the negotiations are different than before. The main difference is that the State is winning the struggle against the FARC, and they are weakened. The agenda this time has deadlines, protocols and well-defined roles, especially when it comes to escort countries. It is clear that peace doesn’t only depend on the agreement between the two parties, but it has also to be constructed with a lot of efforts.
The Editorial states that now the commitment of everyone in the negotiations should be to building trust, avoiding bullets and being careful with their words. Optimism should be moderate, reasonable, and full of constructive criticisms. The path is very steep, but this might be the last chance for Colombia towards a better quality of life. (link to the article)
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GUTIERREZ: “Aprendiendo a comer chicle”, (El Espectador, CO)
250 days ago by Laura.GomezGutierréz Sanín writes in his column in El Espectador about the challenges of the Government negotiations with the FARC in Oslo. He states that there are few issues that don’t attract that much attention but they should in order to prevent difficulties on the way. One of them is the coordination within the State, where it is necessary to begin a learning process as soon as possible.
Coordination has at least four points. The first one is to make all the important players in the state support the projects that are out now. If the government allows those with the capacity to sabotage the peace process to occupy the control institutions, then there would be enormous complications. Gutierréz Sanín points out that the Defense Minister doesn’t seem to be on the side of peace.
The second point regards the relationship between peace and restitution. The third point regards the information management inside the state and fourth regards the relation between the local level and the central level. A lot of what is going on now depends on the local authorities that haven’t been seen on the process.
Gutierrez concludes that the coordination process will take time and we have to be patient. They are never perfect or sharp, but coordination should be within certain standards to make it possible. (link to the article)
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EDITORIAL: “Dos prácticas execrables” (El Tiempo, CO)
308 days ago by Laura.GomezThe Editorial in El Tiempo is about the recruitment of young people and the use of landmines in the Colombian conflict. After the Colombian success in the Olympics, the country this week shudders again with the events of the internal conflict. The Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar is about to issue a report in which it affirms that the FARC has recruited hundreds of minors, and it has increased the use of landmines.
In 22 of 32 departments of Colombia, the illegal groups are recruiting minors. Currently there are about 18,000 kids in the illegal armed forces and criminal organizations, and more than 80% of them are involved in war actions.
In terms of landmines, the numbers suggest that every hour two mines are planted in the country, and so far this year there are 326 soldiers who have become victims of them. These two features confirm that the conflict is still very much alive and degraded, and also that the subversive groups are still committing crimes against humanity, which they would have stopped if they really wanted to talk about peace.
The editorial concludes by affirming that until the FARC decide to talk about peace, the government will have to reinforce the military efforts along with social ones. (link to the article)
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VARGAS: “El discurso de Piedad (El Tiempo, CO)
324 days ago by Laura.GomezMauricio Vargas’s column in El Tiempo today is about Piedad Cordoba’s speech a few weeks ago in Miranda, Cauca. He states that her speech was obviously influenced by the FARC. Cordoba has said that what is happening in Cauca is a revolution, and it has to be defended by the People’s Army, which is the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army, in Spanish).
According to Vargas it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence. Cordoba is also part of what is called the Patriotic March, and she asks the People’s Army to defend the indigenous people against the army, who she calls the invaders. She has also accused the army of laying landmines, not recognizing that was the guerrillas who did it.
In her speech, Cordoba states that the security forces must leave the territory, and she incites the people to harass them. Vargas concludes by affirming that Cordoba’s speech is not a coincidence because there are many documents that prove her links to the FARC. Being allied with the FARC is not a political mistake; it is an alliance with drug traffickers and killers. Vargas wonders if the justice system will be as hard with her as it has being with the “parapoliticos” who helped the paramilitary to defend their territories. (article)
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