The process of restitution of usurped lands and implementing the agrarian deal with the disarmed FARC rebels is shaping up as a sticking point in Colombia's peace process. The Agriculture Ministry has proposed a reform of Decreed Law 902, issued earlier this year to facilitate redistribution of lands, allowing agribusiness to access zones set aside for landless campesinos.
Guerilla commander Nicolás Rodríguez AKA "Gabino" issued orders to his National Liberation Army (ELN) fighters to honor the bilateral ceasefire that is to take effect Oct. 1. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he hoped the ceasefire would lead to the ELN laying down arms, as happened with the FARC. But these statements came just days after yet another rupture on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline, which the government blamed on the ELN.
In his final address to the UN General Assembly as president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos delivered a message of peace, portraying the agreement between his government and the FARC guerilla as a model for the rest of the world. But the peace process continues to face numerous challenges in its implementation—not least of which from US pressure to maintain aggressive counter-narcotics operations.
Colombia's government—under Washington pressure—is pushing ahead with plans to forcibly eradicate 50,000 hectares of coca leaf this year, despite mounting resistance from peasant growers. Violent confrontations between cocaleros and eradication forces are reported across the country. Even "voluntary eradication" is meeting protest, as campesino communities are flooded with National Police troops, in violation of their pacts with the government.
Community leaders throughout Colombia have spoken out against a proposal by the central government to limit the power of consultas populares, or popular referenda, to bar oil and mineral projects at the municipal level. Some are questioning the constitutionality of the government's plan to "fast track" a sweeping reform of the Organic Law of Territorial Ordering (LOOT) that would strip municipalities of the ability to restrict subsoil exploitation.
The wave of deadly attacks on social leaders across Colombia persists in spite of the peace process. Human rights group Global Witness, which annually releases a report on the world's most dangerous countries for environmental defenders, this year names Colombia as second only to Brazil. The group counts 37 environmental activists slain in Colombia in 2016, compared to 26 in 2015. In the first six months of 2017, the figure was already up to 22.
Before an audience of thousands in Bogotá's Plaza Bolívar, the FARC announced its transformation into a new political party with the same acronym: the Popular Alternative Revolutionary Force. But the US State Department is actually blaming Colombia's peace process for the surge in coca production in the country, saying the FARC encouraged peasants to plant more so as to reap promised government subsidies for conversion to legal agriculture.
The Colombian government signed a ceasefire with the National Liberation Army (ELN) after a third round of peace talks in Ecuador's capital Quito. The first-ever bilateral ceasefire in the 53-year history of the guerilla organization came two days before Pope Francis is to arrive in Colombia. As part of the deal, Colombia's government pledged to suspend military operations against the group, improve conditions for imprisoned ELN members, and protect human rights defenders.
In unsettling news for the country's peace process with the FARC guerillas, Colombia registered a record-shattering 50% increase in coca-leaf cultivation last year, according to the latest report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The figures, released by UNODC's Integrated Illicit Crops Monitoring System, show 146.000 hectares under coca cultivation in 2016, compared to 96.000 in 2015—actually a 52% jump.
More localities in Colombia are formally rejecting mineral and oil exploitation within their territories through popular consultas (consultations, or referenda), in a growing challenge to extractive industries in the country. Two victories were reported as "no" votes prevailed overwhelmingly in the municipalities of Arbeláez, Cundinamarca department, and Pijao, Quindío. Celebrations broke out in the streets as the results were announced.
The United Nations charged that Colombia's government is undermining the country's peace process by failing to release imprisoned FARC members and protect disarmed guerillas as promised in the peace deal. Although mores of the 3,400 imprisoned FARC adherents have been officially amnestied, only 837 have been released. More than 1,400 imprisoned FARC members have gone on hunger strike to demand their release. Meanwhile, even released FARC veterans are being targeted for deadly reprisal attacks by right-wing paramilitaries.
Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro jacked up tensions with Colombia, telling counterpart President Santos, "Bow down to me, I am your father"—an invocation of Simón Bolívar's rule over both lands.
