Last 301 - FARC (hopeful peace talks?...) follow-up (Click for More)

Hello,

After some days of just plain laziness due to thanksgiving, it's back to real life. In this entry I will give an update on the FARC prisoner exchange negotiations with the Colombian Government that have been on the wire over the last days.

On interview with ex-Senator Alvaro Leyva, who nowadays serves as one of the only communication bridges between the government and FARC rebels, it was confirmed that both parties are willing to negotiate a humanitarian exchange... And those events are developing quite fast on this matter. Furthermore, there has been chatter that if these preliminary negotiations are successful, steps towards more compromising peace talks could follow. Last week I said I was skeptical about this eventuality, and I still am. The 1999 debacle under Pastrana's government is still present in people's minds... (or at least mine)

FARC's negotiating grounds remain very strong and somewhat inflexible... they are demanding quite a lot in order for this exchange to take place... (Namely the complete demilitarization of two municipalities, for starters) This premise in turn takes me to throw the following question: How successful has mister Uribe's head-on war policies on FARC been over the last few years, if the rebels are still in such a strong negotiating position?... This seems to be a question that no one in Colombia is asking now, but I think is a very important one.

Anyways... What other options are there? Only frontal war comes to mind, which has proven to be a complete blood bath and nonsense over the last years... The damage has already been done and I believe negotiations, IF done properly from the beginning (that means sticking to the rules and fair play by both parties), could mark the beginning of the end of for this seemingly endless war... I mean, I’m probably dreaming, but what else is there for me to do but to dream of peace in Colombia?

For starters, Leyva's words seem to be filled with optimism about the topic, so we will just have to wait and see... "Si esto sale bien, si el resultado se da, nadie va a acordarse ni del Caguán, ni de Florida y Pradera, sino del momento en que Íngrid llegue y se abrace con Yolanda"

For full news report go here. Reuters

For Leyva's interview with the Colombian Press, go here, sorry spanish only. You can translate it here if you copy/paste. El Tiempo (really tried to get an English version of the interview, but was not available...)

Good night,

RuizSKBO

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