Imperialists’ Colombian Allies Dodge a Bullet: Peace Talks Stall as Government Asserts Ruling-Class
November 19, 2015
Imperialists’ Colombian Allies Dodge a Bullet: Peace Talks Stall as Government Asserts Ruling-Class Priorities
by W. T. Whitney
November 2015 marked completion of the third year of talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The two sides are trying to end a brutal civil lasting half a century. Colombia’s majority population has lived through disaster, both humanitarian and political. Violence has taken 200,000 lives, displaced six million rural people from their land, and fostered fear and repression affecting tens of thousands.
The U. S. government, accustomed since the Eisenhower administration to assisting the Colombian military with funding, equipment, and personnel, has a stake in the outcome. Taking on leftist guerrillas in Colombia under a drug – war façade, the U. S. military has tolerated or directly supported Colombian paramilitaries, violators of human rights on a vast scale.
FARC negotiators insist their fight for social justice will continue even after a peace settlement. Now the Colombian government has apparently gained the upper hand in shaping any agreement that emerges.
Negotiators in Havana, Cuba so far have achieved “partial agreements” on agrarian reform, insurgents’ future political participation, and remedies for illegal drug trafficking. They’ve not dealt with the point on “End of the Conflict,” number three on their six-point agenda, or with “Implementation, Verification and Endorsement” – the sixth item. Point five, designated as “Victims” and under discussion since June 2014, has been a sticking point.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/19/imperialists-colombian-allies-dodge-a-bullet-peace-talks-stall-as-government-asserts-ruling-class-priorities/
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