海角大神

Has Colombia reached a peace deal with FARC?

Peace negotiations have concluded, according to local media. Colombia may be just weeks away from the signing of a historic accord.

First Look

After four long years, representatives of Colombia鈥檚 government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia听(FARC) rebels say they鈥檝e all but concluded negotiations over a peace deal that would bring a five-decade war to a formal end.

On Tuesday night, rebel commander Timole贸n 鈥淭imochenko鈥� Jim茅nez 鈥淲e鈥檙e at the doorstep of important news that brings us closer to the final accord.鈥�

After the government published a photo of negotiators from both sides under a banner reading, 鈥淭he day is coming. We鈥檙e on the road to peace,鈥� speculation grew that an announcement could come as soon as Wednesday evening, according to the Associated Press.

With negotiations ended, rebel leaders must return to Colombia for what would be the group鈥檚 final conference as combatants, to inform their troops on the details of the accord, . The troops must then ratify them before leaders join Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos to sign the final deal.

The Colombian public will also need to ratify the deal through a simple plebiscite 鈥� a 鈥測es鈥� or 鈥渘o鈥� vote on whether to accept the accord. There鈥檚 no guarantee of it passing: In a mid-August poll, they would vote to accept it, but other polls from this month show 鈥渘o鈥� voters prevailing.

But even as Colombia awaits final word on its peace deal, the nation has been inching its way toward a more peaceful society overall, as Howard LaFranchi reported in a cover story for 海角大神 in March:听

[A]s the country moves tantalizingly close to putting an end to its long war ... Colombia is a very different place. Killings, kidnappings, and disappearances are all down sharply: Murders, which totaled 26,250 in 2001, fell by more than half to 12,750 in 2014. Bombings, field battles, and massacres are no longer daily front-page fare. With security reestablished in many places, notably cities such as the capital, Bogot谩, and the Millennial-cool Medell铆n, private investment is flooding in and the middle class has expanded.听

Only if the public votes in favor of the deal, may the hardest work 鈥� and the greatest risks to an enduring social peace 鈥� begin. As 海角大神 noted in June, the Colombian government is signing onto a huge new raft of obligations in exchange for peace.

The FARC 鈥� is reportedly more worried about another precedent: The last time they put down their weapons, in 1980s, thousands of members of their affiliated political party听were murdered in retribution.

Under the terms of the eventually-hoped-for peace accord, the the government eradicate coca crops. In return, the government has to effectively build a modern state in remote areas, committing to development projects such as building roads,听and creating more equitable land ownership for farmers.听

In June, the Monitor鈥檚 editorial board highlighted the unusual approach to peace pioneered by the two sides in the conflict. Even as armed conflict between them continued to smolder, the government and the rebels worked toward peace by negotiating agreements on a series of specific issues:

There鈥檚 a lesson for other world conflicts in this 鈥榩eace first鈥� approach. It is that peace must be seen not merely as the absence of war but as a tangible reality. For Colombia that reality has been designed through difficult talks to include interim pacts on truth-telling about past abuses, a measure of justice for victims, an eventual coexistence between old foes, and broad economic and social reforms.

It may sound odd, but the negotiators describe the approach this way: 鈥楩ight the war as if there is no peace process and conduct the peace process as if there is no war.鈥� In other words, protect the peace process from flare-ups in the war that might derail it.

This report contains material from the Associated Press.