The Struggle for Land and the Call for Peace in Colombia

POSTPONED: This event is postponed. Please check back on the website at a later time for more details.

For decades, land issues have been a driver of violence, and also a cornerstone of peace initiatives in Colombia. This month the Colombian Congress approved a law for victims and land restitution, which if implemented successfully, could return 15 million acres of land that were illegally usurped in the context of Colombia’s decades old conflict to about four million victims. What are the challenges for implementation of this milestone legislation and what will its impact be on Colombia's internal armed conflict and the prospects for peace?

Please join us to hear about a new initiative to organize peasant, indigenous, and Afro-Colombian communities around land issues and a peace agenda.

Panelists will include Andrés Gil, Lorenzo Camacho, and Miguel Cifuentes, peasant leaders from the Asociación Campesina del Valle del Río Cimitarra, a peasant organization that was awarded Colombia’s prestigious National Peace Prize last year, and Father Francisco de Roux, S.J., founder of one of Colombia’s most successful regional peace initiatives, the Peace and Development Program of the Middle Magdalena Valley (PDPMM). Virginia M. Bouvier, Senior Program Officer for Latin America, United States Institute of Peace, will moderate.

Speakers

Andrés Gil, Lorenzo Camacho, and Miguel Cifuentes
Asociación Campesina del Valle del Río Cimitarra
Father Francisco de Roux, S.J, Founder
Peace and Development Program of the Middle Magdalena Valley (PDPMM)
Virginia Bouvier, Moderator
Senior Program Officer for Latin America
U.S. Institute of Peace