On Sunday July 5th, Colombia’s Chief Negotiator, Humberto de Calle, addressed the Colombian people during an interview with journalist Juan Gossain sending out a stern warning regarding the current state of the peace process in Havana, Cuba; claiming that the talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had reached their “lowest point” and that “for better or for worse, the process was ending.”
De la Calle’s message confirmed what many in Colombia have been predicting ever since FARC broke their unilateral ceasefire mid-April and began attacking the state’s security forces and key infrastructure, such as the Trans-Andes pipeline.
The four guarantor nations of the peace talks, Cuba, Norway, Chile and Venezuela called Monday on the oldest guerrilla group in the hemisphere to “de-escalate” the violence, yet reaffirmed their commitment to the progress.
FARC’s chief negotiator, alias ‘Iván Márquez’ tried to downplay the fall-out over De la Calle’s remarks saying that the rebels “don’t have to give any space to ominous voices about the failure of the talks, nor to over-the-top statements from those who have in their hands the sacred responsibility to build peace.” On Tuesday, the FARC released a tweet from Havana stating emphatically that they want “to sign a peace now and with this government.”
The Chief Negotiator’s remarks come at a moment when President Juan Manuel Santos’ approval rating has been pummeled by public opinion and has reached an almost all-time of low of 29%. In February, Santos’ approval rating stood at 43%.
Outrage over the escalation of violence by FARC reached tipping-point last month when the rebels detonated explosives next to the Trans-Andean oil pipeline and which resulted in 10,000 barrels of crude spilling into the rivers of the Nariño department, and leaving 150,000 residents of the Pacific port town of Tumaco without water. The government has claimed that this attack was the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history.
On Monday, June 29th, the FARC struck again, planting another bomb along the same pipeline, in the Putumayo department and which destroyed several homes. According to De la Calle, the escalation in violence has been an unfortunate consequence of a process which has dragged on for more than two years and reflects a vindictive mood among FARC and which comes to the negotiating table “obliged to say “We have not been defeated.” De La Calle also asserted that the guerrilas are “exhausted” after more than 50 years at war with the state and are “struggling with their identity.”
A rash of low-intensity bombs which detonated last week in Bogotá has alerted security forces that the country’s two guerrilla groups, FARC and the maoist National Liberation Front (ELN), could be planning a campaign of terror in the large cities to erode the resolve of Colombians and impact the urban population which has been relatively immune to the upsurge in violence.
Cracks began to appear in the process when on April 15th FARC attacked an army garrison in the department of Cauca killing 11 soldiers. Three weeks later, the military retaliated for the assault on their batallion with an aerial bombardment against a guerrilla base in the same department killing 26 rebels. The FARC’s response was immediate: no more unilateral ceasefire and a call to arms.
If the peace process has debased to its “lowest point”, the international community is appealing to both sides to move the talks forward and agree to a bilateral ceasefire. “We beg both sides to restrict all actions and activities which cause victims and suffering in Colombia and focus on the implementation of measures to construct confidence,” the guarantor nations said Monday.
Colombians must now wait and see if the international appeal is a “game changer” leading to a de-escalation in violence, and if the Government decides to stay at the table to hammer-out critical points of the peace agenda amidst a climate of suspicion and fear.
