Coup on the road to peace

The announcement made last week by the former FARC negotiator, aka Iván Márquez, to take up arms, as well as by other former commanders, deserves several readings.

As expected, the reaction of Colombian President Iván Duque has been strict. Request the expulsion of these FARC members from the "special jurisdiction for peace" (tried by the ordinary courts) and order the public forces to carry out searches and arrests. However, President Duque, calling them no longer "belligerents" but narcoterrorists, wanted to suggest that the decision of these dissidents to take up arms is not given for ideological reasons but for their link with the drug traffic. With the support of Maduro in Venezuela and like ELN, this group commissioned by Márquez has apparently not been able to curb the greed that rents represent for drug trafficking.

Although Mr. Duque is partly right, he does not recognize that the peace process, since he took office as president, has been a disappointment. Even himself, in perfect harmony with his mentor, former president Álvaro Uribe, put the process at risk by making unwise decisions. Paramilitary groups continue to do theirs. The Colombian government did not react abruptly to stop the murder of social leaders. The process of rural reform and access to land for large numbers of displaced persons is not progressing. The implementation of transitional justice has been slow …

Moreover, the projection and strength that this new splinter group led by alias Iván Márquez and other commanders can not be ignored. The experience gained in recent years, the financing of drug trafficking, the links with Mexican cartels, the support of the Venezuelan dictatorship as well as the ideological and strategic vision can give another dimension to the Colombian conflict. It is true that the Colombian armed forces are one of the best in the region. The support received in recent years by the United States in training and armaments has been important. The FARC, for their part, also have a doctrine, an experience of the use of weapons and means. However, the problem, in my opinion, is not military, but political.

Therefore, although it is often said that the peace process is complex and considerable and that the government of President Duque affirms that it is striving to meet the commitments made in relation to the peace process. Of the more than eight thousand FARC veterans, these were not honored. as a whole.

This gives the impression that the internal war in Colombia is an important affair, not only for some FARC dissent, but for certain sectors of society. Let's hope that this announcement by Márquez will be an alarm for the Duque government and that the road map will not end up undermining the peace process.

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