Wednesday, April 12, 2017

LatAm in Focus: What's Happening with Colombia's FARC Peace Process?

By Holly K. Sonneland

Listen: Virginia Bouvier of the U.S. Institute of Peace talks about how everything from elections to the weather is affecting Colombia’s landmark deal with the guerrillas.

</p> <div class="wrapper" style="width: 100%;"> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 30%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><b style="font-size: 20px;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/Virginia-Bouvier.png" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></b></em></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p><em>Note: A few short months after this interview, <a href="https://www.usip.org/press/2017/07/memoriam-virginia-m-ginny-bouvier">Virginia Bouvier passed away after a prolonged illness</a>. We're honored that she took the time to share with us her deep wealth of knowledge and indefatigable commitment to peace in Colombia.</em></p> <p>It should have been evident that 52 years of civil war would not be easily, or quickly, ended. But when <a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/update-ceasefire-deal-colombia-verge-peace-farc">the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia</a> <a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/update-colombians-have-final-say-peace-accord">signed a peace agreement</a>, the international headlines <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21701178-government-declares-end-its-war-against-farc-peace-last-colombia">rang out</a>: Colombia is at peace.</p> <p>Except it wasn’t. On October 2, 2016, <a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/weekly-chart-colombias-no-vote-numbers">voters rejected the agreement</a>, laying bare deep divides within a long-suffering Colombian society. It was amid these tensions that the government and FARC returned to Havana to work out a revised agreement, this time with input from opponents. That agreement passed—this time <a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/colombia-update-uphill-battle-awaits-new-peace-deal">through Congress</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/court-gives-big-boost-to-colombias-peace-deal-with-farc-rebels/2016/12/13/cc5d8c92-c07c-11e6-a52b-a0a126eaf9f7_story.html?utm_term=.856e09aa340d">with approval from the Constitutional Court</a>—albeit with much less fanfare. </p> <div class="wrapper" style="width: 100%;"> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 40%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><b style="font-size: 20px;">“Signing an accord is really not the key. Implementing the accord is the key.”</b></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p>So where do things stand today? How far or near, in fact, is Colombia from peace? It’s happening, slowly but surely, says Virginia Bouvier, a senior advisor for peace processes at the U.S. Institute of Peace, in this podcast with AS/COA Online’s Holly K. Sonneland. Whether it’s a peace that can last depends on the implementation that’s being worked out right now, says Bouvier, noting that half of all peace accords fall apart within five years.</p> <p>Meanwhile, <a href="http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2017/01/5979/">on Capitol Hill</a>, Washington is reviewing <a href="http://colombiareports.com/trump-personally-take-charge-aid-colombia-peace-process-santos/">a $450-million budget line item</a> for Colombia’s peace process. Bouvier says the funding decision remains a straightforward one, especially with neighbor Venezuela <a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/there-hope-change-venezuela">on the perpetual verge of collapse</a>. “It’s in the U.S.’ national security interest in the end to have a peaceful Colombia in a region that potentially could explode on numerous fronts,” she says. </p> <hr /> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/colombia-update-uphill-battle-awaits-new-peace-deal"><strong>Colombia Update: Uphill Battle Awaits New Peace Deal</strong></a></li> <li><strong>Enjoy this podcast? <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/latin-america-in-focus/id1089353175" target="_blank">Subscribe to Latin America in Focus on iTunes</a>!</strong></li> </ul> <hr />

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LatAm in Focus: What's Happening with Colombia's FARC Peace Process?

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