Feb 012009
It was just confirmed that the FARC has finally released 3 Colombian policemen and one soldier whom it has held for many years. Two Brazilian helicopters with Red Cross insignia left Florencia, Caquetá after 8 AM, with a commission of Red Cross officials and Colombian peace activists aboard. They returned not long ago to Villavicencio, Meta, with the four freed hostages.
El Tiempo has coverage and video (in Spanish).
February 1st, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Any thoughts as to why? I don’t think that the FARC does things out of sheer goodwill.
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Here’s my half-thought/half-hope on this. I believe that some elements in the FARC leadership actually want to get a political peace process started. The information I have (I can’t vouch how reliable it is) is that they are serious about that. They are no longer demanding a DMZ and seemingly have lifted some of the vetoes they had placed on lots of people and seem that they would accept talks with Luis Carlos Restrepo. (That is, if he accepts to come out from under his rock, remove the duct-tape of his mouth and pick up a frigging phone, which he hasn’t in the past 6 years.) This is a departure from what I heard several months ago when the FARC seemed just as interested in a peace process but were vetoing just about everybody that could actually get anything done. If this is correct, I must confess I’m surprised at the change in just a few months given the glacier speed with which the FARC changes its stances (on the rare occasions it does). And no, seemingly this doesn’t have anything to do with “Operacion Jaque.” When I refer to several months ago, it was a while AFTER the rescue and they were still digging in their heels.
As much as I would like to see a peace process started, I rather remain cautiously optimistic. There are lots of roadblocks still. First, the FARC have not accepted to put an end to kidnapping, which was the main question asked in the open letter addressed to them by several “personalities.” In fact, they came up with a bunch of ridiculous “justifications” that added nothing new (I’ve found similar stuff in the Internet) and, instead place the group in an uncomfortable position. When I read their answer I had a sinking feeling. Fortunately, these liberations sort of buy some time and some good-will from public opinion toward this effort. But I predict that the FARC’s refusal to renounce to kidnapping will become an albatross on the process’s neck if nothing changes quickly.
Second, they keep insisting on the “Humanitarian Agreement.” I’ve been something of a lonely voice in this regard among the “terrorist-coddling, totalitarian, anti-patriot” crowd that wants a political solution. Most of my co-conspirators get all worked up about such agreement and see it as leading, almost inevitably, to a true peace process. I’ll believe when I see it. To me, this talk of an HA can quickly become a mess and end up derailing the whole thing. If it were up to me, I would just skip the whole HA thing and go to substantive peace talks. There will be plenty of time for prisoner exchanges and flower bouquets after.
Third, it’s the FARC, don’t you get it? These guys definitely have their own notion of time which means that if for them something is “urgent” it might take 15 years give or take a week. Plus, they keep coming with these incredibly elaborate analysis of how there is a systemic crisis just around the corner that will propel them to victory. Add to this the fact that they definitely want long-term viability of some sort and you’ll see that it’s not easy. Probably starting talks is not that hard right now. But bringing them to fruition is another story.
Of course, there’s another major roadblock: the government. Since we need to take our good news wherever we can get them, at least it looks like Colombia’s Karl Rove, Jose Obdulio, is about to brighten the public seen by leaving it.
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
lol
Colombia…the puppet of the corrupt and mendacious legislature of the United States..