Rebels and government move toward peace in Colombia.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
After 38 months during which an auspicious peace dialogue advanced, President Juan Manuel Santos' government and the guerrillas of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) have begun to take concrete steps that point unquestionably toward the goal expressed by both parties when they met for the first time in Havana, Cuba, in November 2012.
In recent weeks, the Colombian government made two transcendental steps. One, it announced that it was willing to begin pardoning certain jailed rebels. Two, it refused to extradite guerrillas to the United States, which Sergio Jaramillo, the High Commissioner for Peace, said was done "as a gesture of building trust in the negotiation process" (NotiSur, Oct. 12, 2012, Dec. 6, 2013, and Oct. 9, 2015).
Guerrilla fighter Pastor Alape used practically the same terms Dec. 6 to explain the reasons that led the FARC to apologize to the people of Bojaya, a town deep in Colombia's Choco jungle victimized by a bloody battle in 2002 in which at least 79 persons died (NotiSur, Jan 23, 2004, and Sept. 5, 2014).
Government issues pardons
While both parties continue analyzing which will be the best instrument to ratify the peace--the executive power would like a plebiscite, while the FARC favors a constitutional assembly--the government announced during the last week of November that it intended to pardon 30 guerrilla members in a first stage. Jaramillo indicated that the decision was made "in accordance with institutional powers and foundations" and clarified that the guerrillas who would be freed had not been imprisoned for serious crimes. These details, which for many were not necessary, had the clear intent of preempting criticism from those against the peace process, a high level official said in a cryptic reference to former President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010) [NotiSur, Feb. 8, 2013]. After reiterating that neither this nor any other group of pardons would include people who have committed crimes against humanity, the high commissioner explained that "in order to guarantee adequate psycho-social support for the members of this group, and support for their re-entry and stabilization into family, community and social life, [to provide] access to education and to make possible job training," the government would coordinate its actions with a multidisciplinary team.
Government also refuses to extradite to US
Similarly, between Dec. 1 and 15, the government made another gesture particularly appreciated by...
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