The Last Day of the War ended with a wash-out in Chicago’s Soldier Field as an embattled Colombia tried to equalize a 2-0 loss against Chile in the semi-finals of the Copa America. Despite the heroics of a match which was almost cancelled after an electrical storm struck Chicago, Colombians never lost hope that the national soccer team stood a fighting chance to reach the Finals of this 100th anniversary edition of Copa.
Despite many dubious calls by the referee and a match which dragged itself well into the late hours of a stormy summer night, the hopes pinned on James Ródriguez, Juan Cuadrado and Carlos Sánchez to break through the Chilean defense began to fall apart and Colombia valiantly snatched defeat from the jaws of imagined victory. And to borrow a line from Colombia’s national anthem – “The horrible night has ended.”
Today, a new era dawns on Colombia, and Colombians anxiously usher in their first post-conflict day after more than a half-century of being at war with FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. After Chicago, the media spotlight shifts to Havana, Cuba, and a conference room brimming with international dignitaries in their finest guayaberas. Then the speaches from all the protagonists of the Colombian peace process: President Juan Manuel Santos, the FARC’s Rodrigo Londoño, Chief Peace Negotiator Humberto de La Calle, FARC’s Iván Márquez. Six presidents (Chile, Mexico, Cuba, San Salvador, Dominican Republic, Venezuela) will be in the Laguito Conference center, including the United Nation’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
But the big moment today will happen when Santos directs his hand to Londoño, alias “Timochenko” sealing the end of more than 50 years of cruel and relentless hostilities in a war which has lasted more than many a lifetime and destroyed many lives. The victims of one of the world’s oldest conflicts will be addressed and recognized. So, too will the opposition, especially the recalcitrant former Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe Vélez.
But above all, Colombians will take center stage, and the need for a sustaining reconciliation, one which encompasses our large cities and the countryside, the most privileged and most vulnerable. For all Colombians were victims of this war. And all Colombians deserve a better future, as we embark on this, our first day after the Last Day of the War.
