The Search for Peace in Colombia Begins to Founder

 
On October 7, Colombian President Andrés Pastrana announced to the nation that the peace process would move forward after his decision to renew the demilitarized zone granted to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The area was ceded to the FARC in November 1998 in an attempt to further dialogue between the government and the guerrilla group.

Pastrana's announcement came at a time of public frustration with the government's negotiating strategy, with criticism focused on the zona de despeje, or demilitarized zone. Two recent incidents served to galvanize public opinion: the kidnapping and assassination of Consuelo Araujo, a former culture minister and the wife of Colombia's attorney general; and attempt by presidential candidate Horacio Serpa to lead a march to the FARC-controlled zone, which was met with snipers, landmines and threats of car bombs.

An editorial in El Tiempo newspaper echoes the widespread criticism that the FARC have turned the area into "a safe haven for kidnappings, drug trafficking and launching attacks against military bases and defenseless civilians." Mary Anastasia O'Grady, editor of the Wall Street Journal's Americas Column, argues that "the guerrillas have responded by using the demilitarized zone to add to their ranks through forced recruitment of minors, build up their stores of arms, traffic in drugs and stage attacks against civilian targets in other parts of the country."

During a recent congressional debate, Senator Germán Vargas Lleras presented a chronological list of these and other actions the FARC has committed during the three years it has controlled this swath of Colombian territory. He claimed that "at least 132 kidnapping victims have been taken to the demilitarized zone, and 17 of them were killed." The guerrillas use the zone to organize attacks on neighboring areas, Vargas asserted, adding that it is known to contain at least four cocaine-processing laboratories and numerous clandestine airstrips.

The FARC itself views the demilitarized zone as a "state in the making-new, small, but a state nonetheless," the guerrilla leader "Simón Trinidad" told El Tiempo. Some analysts read these comments as an indication that the FARC is seeking to move beyond the insurgency stage and gain international recognition of its political aspirations.

For all these reasons, many critics believe that the demilitarized zone has served the guerrillas' purposes more than it has furthered dialogue between the warring parties. Despite Pastrana's best intentions, they argue, it has sabotaged the peace process. Indeed, public opinion is almost unanimous in condemning the president's negotiating strategy. Pastrana himself appears deaf to these sentiments, declaring that he made the decision to continue the demilitarized zone "after listening to the voices of the immense majority of our countrymen who speak as one to reject brutality, insensitivity and violence."

Colombians want a negotiated solution to the conflict, but one that is approached differently. Serpa and the other leading presidential candidates, Noemí Sanín and Alvaro Uribe, agree on the need for a cease fire and the release of all kidnapping victims with oversight provided by international observers. There are calls to revamp the peace process to include clearer terms, strict deadlines and verifiable results. Colombia's Commission of Notables-a government advisory group composed of Carlos Lozano, director of the news magazine Voz; former Constitutional Court magistrate Vladimiro Naranjo; and Dr. Alberto Pinzón-recommends a bilateral truce featuring a six-month cease fire. This period could be extended while the negotiating teams draw up accords concerning the political, economic and social models the country will follow.

Some fear that time is running out, and that an international climate focused on terrorism could change the direction of the peace talks. Already the US State Department has included the FARC on its list of terrorist groups. In an interview with the Miami Herald, Florida Senator Bob Graham charged that the FARC s belongs to a wider terrorist organization seeking to increase its reach, citing the connection between the Colombian guerrillas and the IRA. "The FARC are doing exactly the same thing as terrorism at the global level," Graham said, "organizing themselves into small cells that have no contact with each other and depend on a central command to carry out their attacks."

In the worst case scenario, the FARC kidnappings and assassinations, the government's excessive tolerance, and the failure to obtain tangible results from the peace process could make Colombians desperate enough to turn from support for a negotiated end to the conflict and advocate a military solution. In these circumstances, El Tiempo warns, "the war could be won, but at the price of turning Colombia into another Afghanistan for years to come."