What the Hell Just Happened in Colombia?
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It has never ceased to amaze me how closely the conflict affected everyone I have met in the decade I have spent traveling to and living in Colombia. Half a dozen close friends were either kidnapped or had an immediate family member who was. Many lost relatives and friends to one faction or another. Although it’s 52 years old, the conflict is still fresh — and, in fact, ongoing. Throughout the negotiations, an average of 1,500 people continued to be displaced by violence each month, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
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Yes, the agreement was posted online, with fancy videos and explainer graphics. But the elites who clicked on the presidential website already knew what was in the accord. It was the communities on the coast, along the borders, in the Amazon, deep in the rural areas that never had a chance to examine the agreement in detail.
Take for example the demobilization camps meant to accommodate rebels as they laid down their arms. Many of those areas are populated, and communities hadn’t been told how the process would unfold. Would the FARC come in for good or leave after disarming? Who was going to feed them? Could civil society be protected? Nongovernmental organizations and civil society groups working on the ground in these areas told me throughout the summer that although press conferences had pronounced the outlines of the plan, communities themselves were left guessing.