Jun. 3, 2013 (TSR) – The agreement reached by the Juan Manuel Santos government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Army of the People (FARC-EP) on the key issue of land, constitutes a milestone within the historical political, social and military conflict this nation has experienced for the last 50-plus years. Never before has the peace process with the largest guerrilla movement in the country advanced so far in this context.
For the first time since peace process negotiations began six months ago in the Cuban capital, the two sides made a joint appearance in Havana’s International Convention Center on May 26 to announce the good news. They were accompanied by representatives of the sponsoring countries, Cuba and Norway, and observer nations Venezuela and Chile.
The issue of comprehensive agrarian development, the first item on the previously agreed agenda, is essential to ending the conflict, because it was one of the detonators of the armed struggle in the 1950’s and remains unsolved. According to official figures, just over 1% of proprietors own 50% of all land in Colombia, making the country one of the most unequal in the world.
The Havana agreement, ratified in Joint Communiqué No.16, focuses on the people, small producers, access to and distribution of land, the fight against poverty, the promotion of agricultural production, and the reactivation of the rural economy.
It is directed at providing land access to the largest possible number of landless or land-lacking rural inhabitants, through a Land for Peace Fund.
The national government is to progressively formalize, within a constitutional and legal framework, all land occupied or owned by campesinos in Colombia.
Mechanisms are to be created to resolve conflicts over land use, plus agrarian jurisdiction to protect ownership rights on the basis of the common good.
These projects are accompanied by housing plans, potable water, technical assistance, training, education, land adaptation, infrastructure and soil recovery.
The agreement seeks to reverse the effects of the conflict and to restore their land to the victims of plunder and forced displacement.
Former Vice President Humberto de la Calle, head of the government delegation, later assured that the agreements reached will allow “a radical change in Colombia’s rural realities,” and reiterated that the government has “a comprehensive vision of rural transformation.”
De la Calle clarified, “This will be effected with full respect for private property.”
For the guerrilla movement, leader Comandante Iván Márquez noted, “The agreement has specific provisos which will necessarily have to be taken up again before a final agreement is made concrete.”
Márquez stated, “The 100-plus initiatives brought to the negotiating table are an irrefutable demonstration of the depth of our commitment to the land issue.”
The two sides recalled that the talks are proceeding on the basis that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, as established by the Havana General Agreement. Thus, attaining a full and lasting peace is dependent on securing an understanding in relation to the other points on the agenda, which include political participation, victims’ rights, the solution to the problem of illicit drugs, the end in itself of the conflict, and its endorsement.
This last aspect has once again raised issues. De la Calle affirmed that negotiated agreements must be endorsed by the people, without specifying in what way. The FARC-EP is insisting on a constituent assembly as the best way of “forging our reconciliation in perpetuity.”
Attempts to achieve peace during the last 20 years have failed long before reaching any concrete agreement. This was the case in Caguán (1999-2002) with President Andrés Pastrana, and the Tlaxcala, Mexico dialogues during the mandate of César Gaviria (1990-1994).
The greatest advances in the political context date back to the mid-1980’s peace process with Belisario Betancur, when the Uribe Treaties were signed. However, their reach was diminished with the subsequent re-intensification of the war and the extermination of the Unión Patriótica, a political party supported by demobilized guerrillas.
In relation to criticisms of the peace talks being advanced by the Santos administration, De la Calle stated, “The government is respectfully assessing these, but today, we have a real opportunity to attain peace through dialogue.”
First published in Granma.
