Uncertainty hangs over Colombia after voters rejected a peace agreement four years in the making that was designed to end 52 years of conflict between the government and the FARC rebel group.
Now the clock is ticking to renegotiate a deal amenable to the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the government, and the “No” campaign before a new government takes power in mid-2018.
But for the peace process to move forward, Colombians who have been victims of violence and robbery at the hands of the FARC must forgive the perpetrators.
And in Colombia, it appears that is not yet the case.
Transitional Justice
“My family was directly affected [for] several years because of FARC,” said Esteban Navarro, 29, of Bogota, in an email interview.
“We were extorted and forced to pay many times and great amounts of money in order to maintain our business. It’s as simple as, you pay, or your safety may be compromised,” he said.
Lower-ranking members of the FARC would have been granted amnesty for crimes like these under the peace accord.
But many Colombians don’t want to give FARC members a free pass.
“If the rebels committed to the transitional justice process, the rebels would get away with certain crimes including drug trafficking and murder,” said Stratfor Latin America analyst Reggie Thompson.
“A great deal of the Colombian people weren’t on board with that.”
And the FARC would not have signed the deal without guarantees of avoiding jail time, he said.
However, perpetrators of more serious crimes, including sexual violence and other war crimes, were not protected by the deal, according to Virginia Bouvier, senior adviser at the United States Institute of Peace.
