The Colombian conflict: a "peace" that is cracking apart

ABSTRACT:

The "Colombian conflict" was an asymmetric war between 1958 and 2018 which took the lives of more than 260,000 people [1], most of the casualties were civilians in massacres carried out by each of the actors of the conflict.

The conflict maintained a changing character during Its phases, developing geographically in rural populations and later, moving to large urban centers. It’s multiple actors and the implementation of all forms of violence in large dimensions, characterizes it even today where we are witnessing a violent rescaling within the country.

ANALYSING THE CONFLICT: PHASES

The armed conflict had a changing character, with four phases differentiated by the dimensions of the violence exercised.

A first phase of "marginality" or stability during the first years (1958-1983) with a total death toll of 9,142.

A second phase of "escalation" in which violence and massacres increased between 1982 and 1995, with a total of 68,645 victims.

An "aggravation" or "peak" phase, between 1996 and 2004, known as the bloodiest phase of the conflict and where most of the victims were concentrated, with multiple attacks, massacres of the civilian population, selective assassinations, kidnappings, forced displacements, rapes, etc. The total number of victims during this period was 145,809.

And finally, a stage of ''de-escalation'' or attenuation of the conflict from 2005 to 2018, with a total of 35,392 fatalities.

ANALYSING THE CONFLICT: MAIN ACTORS

The conflict had a multitude of actors in its development, among which the following stand out:

FARC-EP

It emerged as a congregation of peasants of liberal ideology in 1957, which organised to demand agrarian reform from the government. Following the organisation and continuity of the protests, as well as the influence of communist ideology, the groups called themselves ''Independent Republics'', although they were later disbanded and intervened by the state military forces. 

Faced with repression, former members formed an armed group known as the ''Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia'' (FARC) [2], which played an important role as actors during the conflict and even today, with the re-escalation that is taking place.

ELN

The ''National Liberation Army'' or ''ELN'' is the last active guerrilla group in Colombia, with more than 3,000 active members occupying almost half of the country's total territory. Influenced by the Cuban revolution and religion, the ELN was born in 1964 [3] with the sole aim of overthrowing the government in Bogotá.

Today, the ELN has expanded into Venezuela, where it controls illegal mining, gasoline smuggling and extortion of businesses, bringing in high criminal revenues. [4] This guerrilla group is considered one of the main actors in the conflict and many Latin American and Western countries define it as a terrorist group.

M-19

The ''M-19'' or ''Movimiento 19 de abril'' was one of the guerrillas with the greatest impact on the conflict, named after the 19 April 1970 elections, in which the presidential candidate Misael Pastrana Borrero won through alleged electoral fraud against General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. What began as a protest and rebellion movement, ended up radicalising into an unprecedented armed group. [5]

Among their actions and activities, the following stand out: the theft of the so-called ''Sword of the Liberator'' in the Quinta de Bolívar, an object they used symbolically; multiple executions and kidnappings of political figures, such as the taking of 17 ambassadorial hostages in the Dominican Republic, for which they demanded a payment of 50 million dollars, as well as the release of some 300 guerrillas; and the theft of weapons from the army. [6]

It was a movement that sought to stand out, not limiting its action to the countryside, but occupying the big cities and attacking important political targets. It evolved into a left-wing political group called the Democratic Alliance M-19, gained significant popular influence and participated in the 1991 Constitution. Eventually, the group disintegrated and today the movement does not exist in any of its branches. 

Other important actors to note were the ''Partido Revolucionario de Los Trabajadores de Colombia'' or ''PRT'' (whose armament was destroyed and whose actions were directed towards political life and social organisations) and the ''Ejército Popular de Liberación'' or ''EPL'' (a dissident guerrilla group of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology, which congregated in areas of agro-industrial development and oil exploitation).

CURRENT MAP: IVAN DUQUE'S GOVERNMENT AND THE ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE

Iván Duque, Colombia's current president, has downplayed during this last term the importance of the peace treaty with the FARC in 2016, which marked the apparent cessation of violence in the country. [7] A peace that has not become consistent in rural areas and is beginning to crack with the escalation of violence that threatens the country with the arrival of a new conflict.

In 2019, former guerrilla Iván Márquez, number two in the FARC leadership, announced his return to arms after seeing that the peace treaty was neither solid nor palpable in the state's responsibility, which he defined as ''a new stage of armed struggle''. [8]

The COVID-19 pandemic, beyond the health and economic implications for the country, with a number of contagions reaching 5 million, has had a great impact on the processes of transition to peace and on how the escalation of violence and the proliferation of illegal organisations and drug trafficking has developed. This has mainly affected rural communities, which have been completely isolated. 

Throughout 2021, the escalation of violence in the country has been increasing. This is reflected in the interventions by the Colombian army against some FARC dissident groups in the heart of Amazonia; the multiple massacres in the country (72 so far this year); the assassination of a high-ranking ELN commander in Chocó and the murder of four minors; as well as an increase in the proliferation of criminal gangs and an upsurge in drug trafficking. [9] It is estimated that, in the first half of this year, the number of forcibly displaced persons reached 44,647 in rural areas [10], a figure that suggests that the "peace process" has not covered the needs of this geographical area.

CONCLUSIONS:

Colombia has experienced a half-century of conflict with devastating consequences for the country, its political, territorial and economic stability, as well as for the civilian population, mainly in rural areas.

Peace processes between the government and armed groups are a basis for recovering the country's integrity; however, they must be constant over time and must be accompanied by a process of transitional restorative justice of historical memory, which compensates all parties to the conflict and recognises the active role of each of them in the conflict, so that they take responsibility for their actions. All of this, focusing efforts on the rural population, which is the most affected.

On the other hand, the state and the security forces must actively seek to dismantle the criminal organisations dedicated to mining and drug trafficking that have proliferated thanks to the conflict, and promote the disarmament and demobilisation of the other actors that are once again gaining importance today.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic should not be forgotten, which has led to an increase in internal tensions in the country and the major health and economic crisis that will have to be faced.

Colombia faces major challenges in the areas of security, transitional justice, the economy and society. Tensions are on the rise and the escalation of violence needs to be addressed as soon as possible if we are not to face a scenario similar to what has already happened.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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