In our April 26 Facebook Live session, Senior Investigator Ángela Olaya and Spanish Editor Ronna Rísquez discussed the events that have been jeopardizing the country’s peace accord with the FARC and what their consequences could mean for its future.
Throughout April, a series of events threatened the peace process with the now largely demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), which began in 2016. These events, which took place as the country prepares to hold general elections, could have an impact on the very future of the accords, Olaya noted.
The first event was the arrest of FARC party heavyweight and peace deal negotiator Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte, alias “Jesús Santrich.” A US judge ordered Santrich’s April 9 arrest on drug trafficking charges via an Interpol warrant. The order coincided with investigations by the Colombian Attorney General’s Office into people who could be committing crimes following the signing of the peace deal.
The arrest was accompanied by the announcement of Santrich’s possible extradition to the United States, which provoked a wide variety of reactions throughout the ranks of the FARC.
Olaya explained how these reactions have been affecting demobilized guerrilla members and the peace process, a prime example being Iván Márquez’s announcement that he won’t take the congressional seat that was given to him as part of the accords.
Olaya and Rísquez also discussed how prominent figures in the FARC have been calling various institutions into question and how accurate their accusations are, given that they are coming out at a time when the Colombian government’s credibility has come under fire for alleged corruption within the institutions tasked with managing post-conflict funds.
Finally, Olaya spoke about how some communities and demobilized FARC members have perceived the peace agreement after hearing the news of the FARC leadership’s accusations.
Watch the full video of the Facebook Live discussion (in Spanish) below:
https://www.facebook.com/InSightCrimeEspanol/videos/1688512437902331/
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