President Gustavo Petro’s policy of total peace scored points this week with the successful conclusion of the first cycle of dialogue between the Colombian state and the guerrilla army of National Liberation (ELN).
Although the main merit of the concept of total peace is its comprehensive view of the scourge of violence – including the diversity of factors that are part of it and, importantly, its causes – this first round of negotiations is with the only guerrilla group that has survived in Colombia, it’s an event.
Although peace does not in fact depend solely on the silence of guns – as demonstrated after the agreements signed with the FARC-EP in 2016 – the search for a negotiated solution with the last insurgent movement paves the way to calm. despite the fact that the country is being devastated by paramilitaries, collective killings (the massacres) and the killing of social leaders, peasants and human rights defenders more than the actions of the insurgents themselves.
It didn’t come out of nowhere. Talks with the ELN continue the process begun in 2016 during the administration of former President Juan Manuel Santos and mandated by Iván Duque, which was interrupted after an attack on the police cadet school in Bogotá that ELN sources claimed and exposed turned out to be the perfect argument for the right-wing ruling party, opposed to the negotiations, to uncover the table and, in clear violation of the procedure the parties had already agreed upon, to prosecute and criminalize the guerrilla leaders who maintained the dialogue.
These events were also the ideal pretext that the Colombian government gave to the US administration of Donald Trump, without reason, to mistakenly include Cuba in the false list of countries that promote terrorism, after Havana, faithful to their role as guarantor and in agreement on terms already agreed, he refused to accept the extradition of the indicted ELN leaders to Colombia
at this time of terrorism – who stayed on the island because our country was the host of the talks until that moment.
This transparent and resolute attitude of the Cuban authorities, in which they have welcomed Colombian government officials and guerrilla leaders in search of peace for more than 40 years, was recognized in these words by the Petro executive in a kind of reparation carried out by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Álvaro Leyva, last August, during a visit to Havana.
Now Cuba is among the guarantor countries of the renewed dialogue, along with Venezuela and the Kingdom of Norway, nations that other countries like Chile could join as partners.
And the paramilitary bands?
Partial emergency relief for the areas most affected by the violence, notably Bajo Calima (in Valle del Cauca) and Medio de San Juan (in Chocó), as well as emergency relief for a group of political prisoners of the ELN, makes up the most important agreement, in Indeed, among the four points adopted at the end of this round, which took place in the Venezuelan capital.
The fact that the guerrilla group released 20 people, including civilians, as a sign of their desire for peace
and members of public authority, offers a constructive outlook.
Unlike the negotiations with the FARC-EP, where the principle was that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, in this process the agreements – or some of them – are applied immediately, as indicated by the announcement that the Die Attention given to the above areas and ELN fighters in prison will begin next month.
This time the parties are working under the maxim of building on what has been built, which also means taking up what has already been agreed; the agenda, for example, is the same and has only been updated by consensus.
It is precisely from this agenda that the ending of the armed conflict stands out in fourth place, followed by the points of social participation in peace-building, democracy for peace, transformations for peace and sacrifice.
It is good that this is the case, because we already know that without ensuring social justice and solving the land problem, the end of the armed conflict will not mean peace for Colombia.
Although the death spiral has not accelerated in the time the current government counts, figures from Indepaz (National Institute for Development and Peace) remain worrying.
Seven demobilized FARC-EP members and 62 social activists have been murdered since Petro’s rise to power on August 7th. In the previous months of this year, the figures were 31 and 117, respectively.
Illegal armed gangs are blamed for many of these deaths.
Asked at a press conference whether paramilitarism would be analyzed in the talks, Pablo Beltrán, head of the guerrilla delegation, described what happened after the 2016 peace deal between the government and the FARC as a tragedy. EP: “an intensification of the conflict caused by the creation of non-political armed groups, mafias, in the areas where the FARC was located and which clash with organized communities,” he said, considering the elimination of ex-combatants from “a another tragedy”, the guerrillas who were deployed in civilian life.
“Of course, such a massive tragedy with genocidal customs and practices is at the heart of the discussions around this table,” said Beltrán, who recalled that item five on the agenda speaks precisely of eradicating paramilitarism.
This paramilitarism, he later explained in his version of narco-paramilitarism, is also a scourge of these communities and of the former FARC fighters.
Like many others, Beltrán believes that his country has fallen victim to failed anti-drug policies, so alternative policies should be implemented, with producer countries speaking with one voice and involving consumers, he estimated.
“So this table can be something; but you can understand why we are interested in hearing the opinion of the US government, which is one of the proponents of the current policy.
Ever since Gustavo Petro announced in court his willingness to talk to all armed groups and to propose voluntary submission, while assuring that extradition would not proceed – guerrilla leaders and drug traffickers are on the United States lists – criminal armed groups such as the so-called Gulf Cartel, have expressed their willingness to demobilize.
In fact, the clan … announced in August a unilateral cessation of offensive action, which it touted as “an expression of goodwill” towards the new government and a willingness to “seek avenues of peace.”
A few weeks ago, Peace Commissioner Danilo Rueda announced that more than ten illegal armed groups had already started to request a unilateral ceasefire in different regions of the country. Indepaz has reported the existence of a total of 36 of these groups. Thanks to the formal approval of the Total Peace Congress, President Petro is officially authorized to negotiate with everyone.
The path is rugged and long. However, the will of the new manager shows a favorable environment.
The Colombian Ombudsman has entered rural areas to secure the release of civilians and soldiers.Photo: EFE.