Secret back-channel talks between the Colombian Government and FARC were revealed yesterday by Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos. The talks laid the groundwork for the opening of formal negotiations between the two sides, expected to begin in several weeks time. The Guardian reports that the agreement to open talks was preceded by a series of conciliatory moves by FARC in recent months including the release of military hostages and the ending of kidnapping for ransom. The government for its part amended the constitution to lay the legal groundwork for a peace process. These reciprocal moves will have served to assure both parties that the other party is both able and willing to deliver on commitments that it makes. As with the efforts to resolve the Sri Lankan and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts in the 1990s, there seems to have been some Norwegian involvement. The collapse in 2002 of an earlier peace process in Colombia fueled the argument that a negotiated settlement was not possible and has often been cited by those who argue against negotiation and advocate the defeat and destruction of groups such as FARC. Set alongside the efforts to engage the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Colombian process seems to be part of a broader return to the promise of negotiation and away from some of the more strident and uncompromising rhetoric of the War on Terror. The fact that formal negotiations were preceded by secret talks fits with a pattern evident in many conflict situations. Political leaders talk first in secret partly in order to mitigate the danger of disruption by those on both sides who are opposed to compromise.
-
Archives
- January 2019
- November 2018
- June 2018
- April 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- October 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- February 2017
- November 2016
- August 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- February 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- February 2015
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- December 2013
- October 2013
- August 2013
- June 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- August 2012
- July 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- June 2011
- March 2011
- December 2010
- September 2010
- June 2010
- March 2010
- March 2009
- February 2009
- November 2008
- June 2008
-
Meta
Advertisements