As Colombians were recovering from the shock of a 6.6 magnitude earthquake which rattled the Colombian territory Tuesday afternoon, President Juan Manuel Santos took to the airwaves to inform his fellow citizens that the combined Armed Forces (Military, Navy and Air Force) had received instructions to cease all bombardments of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (FARC) camps for 30 days.
The decision by the head of state to cease hostilities with the oldest guerrilla group in the hemisphere, and one which has been at war with the state for more than a half century, was ratified Wednesday morning by the head of the Colombian peace delegation, Humberto de la Calle, who stated that the decision was not “a bilateral cease disguise,” but part of a framework to begin de-escalating the conflict.
As the peace process conducted in Havana, Cuba, enters a critical stage, De la Calle stressed that the move to stop aerial attacks against FARC camps did not mean that the state would stop military action against criminal groups involved in “extortion, kidnapping and drug trafficking.” Santos during his televised address stated that should civilians “face an imminent threat,” they would be protected by the state and bombardments would resume.
Santos extended an invitation to ex president Andrés Pastrana, former running candidates Martha Lucía Ramírez and Oscar Iván Zuluaga, as well as left wing candidate for the mayoralty of Bogotá, Clara López to advise the Peace Commission.
The announcements by both Santos and De La Calle come days after an unprecedented meeting at the peace table when the appointed FARC delegates met with six senior officers from Colombia’s security forces led by General Javier Flórez, Army Generals Martín Fernando Nieto and Alfonso Rojas Tirado; Air Force General Oswaldo Rivera, Police General Álvaro Pico and Vice Admiral of the Navy, Orlando Romero.
It was the first time during the two year-long peace talks that representatives from the state’s security forces were invited to meet their long time adversaries in a room and face to face.
During the two days in which the FARC commanders and Generals discussed issues involving peace and security in a cordial way, several important agreements were reached. The first being an implicit desire by both sides to end the bloodshed and second, create a realistic mechanism in which to start a joint effort to rid the Colombian countryside of landmines. Call it the first, tangible, litmus test for a post-conflict scenario.
The process of detonating and clearing landmines could take up to 10 years and cost more than $200 million according to Colombian government. The FARC pledged that they would help to begin removing these devices as a gesture to the achievements reached so far in the negotiations.
As one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC), these hidden weapons have caused 11,000 deaths and injuries over the past 15 years, of which, 4,300 were civilians. Colombia ranks second behind Afghanistan, for the highest number of children killed or wounded by landmines.
With the agreement reached in Havana, selected FARC guerrillas, would work as civilians and collaborate with a Colombian army battalion, which specialises in removing mines. The landmine clearance by the army and rebels would be supervised of the Norwegian People’s Aid organization. “The proposal for de-mining is a first step, but a giant step toward making peace,” said De La Calle, before the senior military officers returned to Bogotá.
The news from Havana marks yet another important milestone towards reaching a lasting peace for this country; yet any final agreement still has to be ratified by Colombians in a popular vote. A gallup poll released in February put voter acceptance of the peace process at 53 percent.
