By The Daily Journalist.
Santos is willing to give a final push to end the peace process. A few months ago surprised he sent to Havana one of his general’s to talk face to face with the commanders on their demobilization and disarmament coupe. He now gives a more decisive step and has sent five active generals to sit down with the FARC to study a bilateral ceasefire, and other old demand of the terrorist group that the government has refused to attend so far by the unpopularity these may generate.
“It is an unprecedented decision” that can accelerate the “last stage” of the talks between the delegations of both parties said Juan Manuel Santos, to an official visit to Madrid. The Colombian President intends to sign an agreement before the end of the year despite the complex issues they must still agree upon. Among them, if the FARC leadership will go to jail for their heinous crimes requiring more than 80% of Colombians votes, according to polls besides allowing them to join Colombian politics. Iván Márquez, the main rebel chief has reiterated on countless occasions, most recently last week, that he will not go a single day behind bars.
While announcing it’s latest initiative, Santos declared that he will try to prevent the extradition of guerrilla leaders in other countries. It is recalled that the United States issued fifty arrest warrants for the same number of drug accused subversive commanders.
Today under late circumstances will be in Havana senior officers Fernando Martín Nieto and Alfonso Rojas Tirado, Army; Oswaldo Rivera, the Air; Orlando Romero, of the Navy, and Alvaro Pico of the National Police. On Thursday they will join the subcommittee of the end of the conflict with alias “Romana” FARC commander with a hefty criminal record that includes dozens of kidnappings and murders, and other subversives.
The main obstacle the government may find in this negotiations is the internal resistance of countless officers who feel that such decisions humiliate Colombia’s uniform putting the same level of subversive and hinder their work in the field. In the DNA of the Colombian Armed Forces there is a strong civil tradition to always follow the orders of the Supreme Commander.
The difficult thing is to leave the FARC from drug trafficking and common practices to an irregular war of long duration, where the power of the populations do not exercise with tanks but with his ability to intimidate the targeted via killing and exile. And in the unilateral truce decreed of December is not included in case of abandoning any of those crimes.
Certain sources have seen first hand in states such as Valle del Cauca and Cauca, to name two, that the FARC is still “vaccinating” a revolutionary in Colombia. They also continue their policy of conscription to people submit to an arbitrary martial army, and if anyone is caught trying to leave the ranks they will killed. They haven’t left the lucrative drug trafficking and other crimes. Nevertheless, government, political allies and various scholars of armed conflict,show with irrefutable data that there has been a reductions of attacks on the security forces believing the FARC has fulfilled their commitment to cease violence.
Supervising the deaths of soldiers is feasible to understand the reduction of attacks because the Colombian forces count every month both military forces and National Police units. Neutral agencies are needed to study these cases.
“The presence of members of the Armed Forces should give us confidence and peace to us the Colombian people. It is among men who have experienced war which will help build the transition to peace,” said the head of the government delegation in Cuba, Humberto de la Calle in a statement yesterday. He took the opportunity to mention the meeting of special envoy of President Barack Obama in the peace process, Bernie Aronson, with representatives of the government and the FARC. He said, “the US commitment to the search for peace in Colombia is looking positive”.
One of the gestures that the terrorist group gave the US was to requests the release of “Simon Trinidad” guerrilla commander sentenced to 60 years for kidnapping.
