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Contents contributed and discussions participated by jblackwell2

jblackwell2

Colombia is preparing for peace. So are its drug traffickers. - The Washington Post - 1 views

  • NECOCLI, Colombia — As the Colombian government nears a deal to end its 50-year conflict with FARC guerrillas, it is intensifying another war in the jungles here along the Caribbean coast, the stronghold of a shadowy drug organization known as Clan Úsuga.
  • Both the government and the traffickers know that a big share of Colombia’s billion-dollar cocaine trade will be up for grabs if FARC — whose rebellion runs on drug profits — goes out of business. Some of its 7,000 battle-hardened fighters may be looking for new jobs. Clan Úsuga will be hiring.
  • That $10 billion program, funded by Congress, is considered by many Republicans and Democrats to be one of the most successful U.S. foreign policy achievements of the past generation, forcing FARC to the negotiating table after a half-century of violence that has left more than 220,000 dead.
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    This article talks about the illegal drug trafficking in Columbia, and how it will change once the peace process is complete.
jblackwell2

Colombia leader Juan Manuel Santos: From hawk to dove - BBC News - 0 views

  • "I will keep seeking peace until the last minute of my term," said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, after voters rejected his peace deal with the left-wing Farc rebels.
  • The deal aimed to put an end to more than five decades of conflict, which left an estimated 260,000 people dead and millions internally displaced.
  • Less than a decade ago, while serving as defence minister, he authorised the controversial bombing of a Farc camp in Ecuador without informing the neighbouring country.
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  • Mr Santos had supported Mr Uribe early on, founding a party to back Mr Uribe's campaign for president when the latter was still a relatively unknown candidate.
  • However, Mr Santos' approval ratings remained high and he resigned as defence minister in 2009 to be able to run for president in 2010.
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    This article talks about Juan Manuel Santos.
jblackwell2

Who are the Farc? - BBC News - 0 views

  • The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc, after the initials in Spanish) are Colombia's largest rebel group.
  • They were founded in 1964 as the armed wing of the Communist Party and follow a Marxist-Leninist ideology.
  • They are controlled by the Secretariat, a group of less than a dozen top commanders who devise the overarching strategy of the Farc.
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  • They think there are another 8,500 civilians who make up the Farc's support network.
  • Inspired by the Cuban revolution in the 1950s, they demanded more rights and control over the land.
  • No, Colombia went through a 10-year civil war before the Farc were even founded.
  • The man who would later become the top leader of the Farc, Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, had fought in La Violencia.
  • Most of their fighters are from poor, rural communities and include both men and women of all ages.
  • Colombia is one of the main producers of cocaine and the rebels get a large part of their income from drug trafficking or levying "taxes" on those who do.
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    This article talks about who the FARC rebels are.
jblackwell2

The lessons of Colombia's extraordinary peace process - BBC News - 0 views

  • In a world dominated by horrific forever wars, Colombia's agreement with the Farc guerrilla movement stands out as an extraordinary moment for this country, and a rare affirmation of the power of peace talks.
  • "What we have seen in Colombia is an example that if you work hard at it, with a lot of international support, you can get something worthwhile," he said, while a Colombian choir rehearsed Beethoven's Ode to Joy on the edge of the picturesque harbour.
  • Every conflict is different, but every peace process throws up similar challenges and controversies.
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  • President Santos, a former defence minister, made it clear that his long fight against the Farc - as well as the secret channel he established two decades ago - gave him the gravitas to sit down with his enemy.
  • A 52-year war means a generation of pain and distrust.
  • The Farc, rooted in a Marxist-Leninist peasant revolt, must now move away from its vast network of criminal activities, including the lucrative cocaine trade, in exchange for entering the political process and becoming part of Colombian society.
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    This article talks about the peace process.
jblackwell2

Peace Prize Seen Not Necessarily for Achievements, but Hopes - The New York Times - 0 views

  • President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, days after Colombia rejected a peace deal he pursued.
  • Then on Friday, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia won the peace prize for his efforts to bring the country’s “civil war to an end” — only days after his country rejected the peace deal in a referendum.
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    This article talks about the Nobel Peace Prize that Santos Won/
jblackwell2

The stunning collapse of Colombia's peace agreement with the FARC, explained - Vox - 0 views

  • On Sunday, Colombian voters narrowly rejected the government’s peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in a stunning referendum vote that has thrown the peace process into disarray.
  • All that was left was for voters to approve it in a nationwide referendum on Sunday. Most observers saw the vote as a mere formality that would officially bring an end to the 52-year war that left 220,000 people dead and displaced millions.
  • nearly every poll predicted that it would be approved by the people with a comfortable margin.
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  • But in what one UK pollster called “one of the biggest polling fails of all time,” the peace deal was narrowly rejected, with 50.2 percent voting against it. That means the peace agreement can’t be implemented — and is effectively dead.
  • he FARC is the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). It’s a Marxist rebel group that since 1964 has waged a bloody rebellion against the Colombian government — and it’s the longest-running armed insurgency in the Western Hemisphere.
  • Starting in 2000, the United States began providing the Colombian government with billions of dollars in mostly military aid to help interrupt the country’s massive drug trade and fight the FARC and other smaller rebel groups. The hope was that social and economic conditions in Colombia’s “historically marginalized” rural areas in which the armed groups thrive would also be improved.
  • Under the agreement, called Plan Colombia, the US pledged nearly $10 billion in assistance. As reported by the Washington Post’s Dana Priest, this was paired with “a CIA covert action program that has helped Colombian forces kill at least two dozen rebel leaders.”
  • The deal would also have allowed rebels to avoid jail time if they confessed to their crimes. Per the BBC, the agreement would have created “a special legal framework” intended “to try those who committed crimes during the armed conflict, including Farc fighters, government soldiers and members of right-wing paramilitary groups.”
  • The peace agreement as written cannot be implemented without an approval by referendum, so it will have to be renegotiated. President Santos has promised to “continue the search for peace until the last moment of my mandate, because that's the way to leave a better country to our children ... I won't give up,” he said.
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    This article talks about the basics of the agreement between the Columbian government and the FARC.
jblackwell2

Corruption in Colombia Could Derail FARC Peace Deal - 0 views

  • Last month, the mayor of Colombia’s main port city, Buenaventura, was arrested on corruption charges
  • Corruption is a very big structural problem in Colombia. It permeates all levels of government and society, public and private.
  • Corruption is closely linked to other illegal and criminal activities, such as drug trafficking and illegal mining, which makes it much more difficult to tackle. Some surveys show that Colombians see corruption as the country’s main problem, even more than violence.
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    This article talks about the corruption in the Columbian government.
jblackwell2

Colombia peace deal: Historic agreement is signed - BBC News - 0 views

  • The Colombian government and left-wing Farc rebels have signed a historic agreement that formally brings an end to 52 years of armed conflict.
  • The last of the major Cold War conflicts killed 260,000 people and left more than six million internally displaced.
  • We will achieve any goal, overcome any hurdle and turn our nation into a country we've always dreamed of - a country in peace."
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  • Correspondents say President Santos has risked his political future on the success of the peace deal.
  • But after 50 years of war, many Colombians still aren't ready to forgive. As President Santos put it, the hard work of building peace now lies ahead.
  • President Santos said this historic moment was a message from Colombia to the world: no more war. "No more war," the crowd chanted in return.
  • However, only hours before the signing, the EU announced it would suspend the Farc from its list.
  • 1964: Set up as armed wing of Communist Party2002: At its height, it had an army of 20,000 fighters controlling up to a third of the country. Senator Ingrid Betancourt kidnapped and held for six years along with 14 other hostages2008: The Farc suffers a series of defeats in its worst year2012: Start of peace talks in Havana2016: Definitive ceasefire
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    This article reflects the ending of the long war.
jblackwell2

Colombia's peace deal with FARC risks dragging it further down the vortex of guerrilla ... - 0 views

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    This article talks about the warfare that could occur between the Columbian Government and the Rebels.
jblackwell2

Colombia's long war, and its squandered bid for peace - Chicago Tribune - 0 views

  • After a half century of war, and after four years of grinding negotiations, the Colombian government and leaders of the country's insurgency reached an accord in August to end a conflict in which more than 220,000 people were killed and six million displaced
  • The world watched Sept. 26 as President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed the agreement, hailed as a blueprint for resolving war through dialogue and compromise.
  • Polls had the yes vote comfortably ahead by a 2-to-1 ratio.
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  • Spearheading the "no" vote in Colombia was former president and current senator Alvaro Uribe, whose father was killed by FARC rebels.
  • It has thrived as a stable democracy amid neighbors governed by leftist leaders.
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    This article acts as a brief summary for the peace crisis in Columbia.
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