Iván Danilo Rueda Rodríguez, High Commissioner for Peace, in his apartment in Bogotá, Colombia, on January 7, 2023. Chelo Camacho
Gustavo Petro wants to give new impetus to the seemingly stagnant government and has begun the political project of total peace. The president fired former peace commissioner Danilo Rueda, who failed to successfully implement the 2016 peace agreement or make significant progress in negotiations with FARC dissidents. From now on, his place will be taken by Otty Patiño, the ELN’s chief negotiator, an old M-19 fighter who enjoys Petro’s absolute trust.
Rueda had it back in the day too, and this year it seemed to be everywhere. He managed to hold six simultaneous negotiations with armed groups and honor the Havana Accords. His critics argued that too much responsibility fell on his shoulders and that he often resorted to improvisation. Talks are also not going smoothly with the ELN, which refuses to stop the kidnappings 13 months after sitting at the negotiating table. All this threatens what Petro has called total peace, the maximalist idea of disarmament or negotiation with the armed groups scattered throughout the country.
The potential failure angers the president, who in recent weeks has urged his ministers to redouble their efforts to implement the changes he has planned. “The peace processes in the country are led by Otty Patiño. I thank Danilo for all his immense efforts,” read the short message that Petro published on social networks to announce his decision.
The peace processes in the country are led by Otty Patiño. I thank Danilo for all his immense efforts.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 22, 2023
Senator Iván Cepeda, also in charge of peace affairs, explains by telephone that Rueda faced major challenges, especially in dialogue with the remaining FARC members, but that he made some progress that contributed to the implementation of the project: “It has work “We have achieved concrete progress in a very difficult situation.” At the same time, he welcomes Patiño’s assumption of office: “He has dedicated his life to building peace. I am pleased that he is taking on this new responsibility.”
The representative of the Green Alliance Party, Catherine Juvinao, gave Rueda a political control debate in Congress a few days ago. “He has proven to be an extremely ineffective public servant. All indicators that should improve as a result of his management worsen. Especially those related to the conflict, kidnappings, extortions… But beyond that, he is an incredibly arrogant and stubborn man,” Juvinao told this newspaper.
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Rueda faced one crisis after another in his actions with the Central General Staff (EMC), a guerrilla commanded by former FARC fighter Iván Mordisco. Mordisco and Rueda were in contact for a year until they agreed to form a table in October. On their way they faced all sorts of obstacles, such as when the Carolina Ramírez Front, under the umbrella of the EMC, murdered in the jungle four indigenous teenagers that it had forcibly recruited in the Putumayo department, which led to a massacre that the government wants since the new Suspend the ceasefire agreed upon last year. Petro himself recently admitted that the installation of this table was rushed. At this moment, after a break because they claimed to be being harassed by the army, the EMC assured that it would return to the dialogues.
From now on, Patiño will be in charge of all peace talks conducted by the Petro government. The fact is that he has much more experience than Danilo Rueda. He was a negotiator in the peace process with the M-19 in the 1980s and, like Petro, was a member of the National Assembly, which finally reformed the constitution in 1991. At 78, he is a man of few words and a sense of humor. very tender. At the dialogue tables with the ELN, he sometimes intervenes with very funny remarks that make the rest of those present laugh.
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