Spotlight on Colombia - Event Overview

Two USIP Events Highlight Peace Efforts in Colombia

Opportunities to support peace in Colombia abound, even though national peace efforts have stalled and the conflict there continues apace. As the Obama administration begins to formulate its policies towards Latin America, the United States Institute of Peace organized two public events to highlight its concerns with the conflict in Colombia and generate debate about options for the United States to support peace in Colombia. 

On June 13, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) discussed his recent visit to the Ecuadoran border of Colombia and highlighted the growing humanitarian crisis there. 

Congressman McGovern began his address by noting the serious human consequences of the ongoing conflict in Colombia, which has resulted in four million internally displaced persons and nearly one million refugees. He emphasized that resolving the refugee crisis is essential to laying the groundwork for peace, and recommended that the U.S. encourage cooperation on this issue between the government of Colombia and neighboring countries. He noted the need to provide more resources for Colombia to deal with the humanitarian crisis, fulfill basic human needs, and prevent further displacement.  Rep. McGovern argued that the U.S.-backed drug war in Colombia has failed, citing the GAO report’s conclusions in Nov. 2008 that U.S. drug policies have not reduced the availability of cocaine on U.S. streets.  He called for a greater focus on the demand side and prevention efforts, support of community-based rural development in crop-producing regions, an end to approaches that exacerbate displacement, and a more appropriate balance of military and economic aid to Colombia.

Congressman McGovern called for a more active engagement in supporting a humanitarian exchange, an openness to supporting a serious peace initiative if it should arise, and the need to lay the ground for peace by supporting and protecting human rights and peace activists in Colombia, who have been repeatedly stigmatized by high-level Colombian officials, including Colombian President Álvaro Uribe himself.

On June 14, the Institute hosted a book launch for Colombia: Building Peace in a Time of War (USIP Press), edited by USIP’s Virginia M. Bouvier. The book launch featured a panel discussion with Bouvier, book contributors Marc Chernick of Georgetown University, Mary J. Roldán of Hunter College of the City University of New York, and Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy. Mark Schneider, senior vice President and special adviser on Latin America at the International Crisis Group, moderated the panel.

Bouvier, a senior program officer at USIP and head of USIP’s Colombia Conflict team, discussed the genesis and goals of the book and highlighted some of its conclusions. She underscored the nature and extent of past and current peace initiatives in Colombia, the range of roles that civil society has played in peace processes broadly defined, and the lessons that can be garnered from the successes and failures of past peace efforts.  She urged U.S. policymakers to make peace and human rights a more explicit part of U.S. policy agendas and goals.  

Marc Chernick, associate professor of government at Georgetown University, then summarized his key conclusions drawn from analysis of FARC negotiating practices over the past 25 years.  He attributed failure of past negotiating efforts in part to the historic lack of consensus within the Colombian government and within the FARC about desired outcomes.  He noted the continuity of the FARC’s negotiating agenda over the years, and urged policymakers to be open to the new opportunities which may emerge as a result of recent changes in FARC leadership.  
 
Mary Roldán, professor of Latin American History at Hunter College of the City University of New York, shared her assessment of the Peace Laboratories, an initiative funded by the European Union, Colombian government and others to support local projects that promote peace in several regions of Colombia through economic development and increased democratic participation. She outlined some of the challenges faced in the province of Antioquia, and concluded that although the Peace Laboratory there has achieved some economic success, securing political participation has been more difficult, particularly given ongoing intimidation by armed actors.

 

The panel concluded with remarks by Adam Isacson, director of the Colombian Program at the Center for International Policy who discussed the epistolary exchange between the civil society group Colombianos y Colombianas por la Paz, led by Senator Piedad Córdoba, and both the FARC and the ELN.  He suggested that the next step in these discussions is for the FARC to follow through on its offer in April 2009 to release Corporal Pablo Emilio Moncayo, who has been held hostage since 1997. He noted that Uribe had recently proposed a 40-day ceasefire, and that the U.S. should encourage him to follow through on this.  Isacson discussed the Colombian Integrated Strategic Action Plan (CCAI) that is currently being supported by USAID, and suggested that the U.S. could help ensure that a peace strategy be integrated more explicitly into the plan. 

The event concluded with an open forum during which a broad variety of topics -- including the use of trade agreements in promoting peace, the possibilities for building consensus within the Colombian peace movement, and the role of truth and reconciliation in Colombia -- were discussed.

Speakers

Senior Program Officer and head of the Columbia Conflict Team, U.S. Institute of Peace
Editor, Colombia: Building Peace in a Time of War
 
Marc Chernick
Research Associate Professor, Department of Government and Center for Latin American Studies, Georgetown University
 
Mary Roldan
Dorothy Epstein Professor of Latin American History, Hunter College of the City University of New York
 
Adam Isacson
Director of Colombia Programs, Center for International Policy
 
Mark L. Schneider, Moderator
Senior Vice President, International Crisis Group

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