They used to fight the state and now want to be part of society – but after demobilisation, thousands of former Farc guerrillas face violence and displacement
The outcome of Colombia’s presidential election has major implications for the survival of its historic peace deal, and the prospects of former combatants who have committed to a life without conflict
The U.S. State Department rarely removes terrorist groups from its Foreign Terrorist Organizations list. Most terrorist groups, unlike the Colombian FARC, don’t want to put down their weapons.
A nationally mandated quarantine isn’t keeping Colombia’s armed groups at home. Despite calls for a ceasefire, they are still killing activists, threatening humanitarian workers and seizing aid.
Small business grants are supposed to help Colombia’s disarmed FARC fighters start new lives as entrepreneurs. But interviews with 12 female ex-insurgents suggests the government plan may fail women.
Colombia’s new president opposes the 2016 peace deal with the FARC guerrillas. As trust between the government and militants erodes, at least 1,700 former insurgents have returned to armed struggle.
A 2016 accord with the FARC guerrillas was supposed to end Colombia’s 52-year civil war. But a deadly car bomb in Bogotá shows that armed insurgents still threaten the South American country.
Strikes and rallies have gripped Colombia for months. That’s bad news for its new government but a sign of progress in a country that had little tolerance for dissent during its 52-year civil war.
In the most peaceful election in their modern history, Colombians have elected as their next president a conservative who will renegotiate the country’s fragile 2016 accord with the FARC guerrillas.
Two candidates from Colombia’s May 27 presidential vote will face off on June 17. One is a former guerrilla. The other is a hard-liner. Their views for the nation’s future couldn’t be more different.
A former FARC rebel commander-turned- presidential candidate has withdrawn from Colombia’s 2018 election. Despite increased violence, the peace accord he signed will probably survive this setback.
Visiting Scholar, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University; Director of Studies at the Changing Character of War Centre, and Senior Research Fellow, Dept. of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford