The present work aims to carry out the analysis of the social conflict that involves Colombia as a scenario, with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the state being the main actors.
This guerrilla was born as a result of the bi-partisan violence between people of the conservative current (traditionally associated with the right) and the liberals (associated with the left) during the 1940s.
Before taking their name and becoming public as an organization, they were several groups of peasant armed self-defense, with communist influence, who argued their military action, roughly, for political reasons against the constraints of the freedom of the military government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla between the years 1953 - 57, and the unequal distribution of the country's productive lands, owned by the great landowners of the time.
During 1953, after declaring the Colombian Communist Party illegal, the military government decreed a political amnesty for members of the armed groups to abandon their flags, and at the end of the year, launched a large-scale military offensive that almost exterminated those who persisted in the use of arms as a mechanism of political pressure. The survivors of the attack were organized around a single name and in 1955 they held the first guerrilla conference, officially being born as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.. After 52 years of armed conflict, on September 27, 2016 a peace agreement was signed between the illegal group and the government, and the transition from the armed organization to a political organization began. Currently, the post-conflict process is under development.
General Exhibition
According to data published by the CIA World Factbook (Officer, 2015), the Plurinational State of Bolivia has a total of 1,098,581 km 2 of territory, of which 7,252 km correspond to land borders with neighboring nations. Among the natural resources that the territory has, are tin, natural gas, oil, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold and wood. Finally, with regard to land use, 34.3% of the total territory is used for agricultural production, of which 3.6% correspond to arable land0.2% to permanent crops and 30.5% to permanent pastures. 2017].
What are the roots ("history") of the conflict? How does each of the parties involved define it?
The roots of the conflict have two central axes; politics and agriculture.
In relation to political reasons, the historical antecedents go back to the time of La Violencia (1940-50) that have their roots between the dispute between the two currents of thought (liberal and conservative) about the state model that Colombia should adopt. after its independence from Spain.
On the other hand, in relation to the agricultural reasons, there are a series of elements such as the lack of rural development, the absence of the state in various parts of the country, the existence of marked economic differences between workers and landowners, which reach their maximum point of discontent after the prohibition of communist thoughts and the "favoring" of families traditionally owning land by the conservative state. Additionally, to both reasons are added the social repression of the peasants and the selective death by subsequent paramilitary groups that were responsible for the selective death of various peasant and guerrilla leaders during the development of the conflict..
What is your temporal projection (towards the past and / or towards the future)?
Due to the recent peace agreement signed with the government, I consider that the projection of this conflict is towards the future. My thesis is that, despite being a conflict developed from violence and extensively, the transition from armed group to political group will open new fields of non-violent conflicts, which will develop ideas, proposals and movements in the medium and long-term, that is, the development of a positive conflict if it is managed properly.
What is the dimension of the conflict?
The dimension of the Colombian conflict has two spheres; the internal-national and the external-international. In the strictest sense, the internal dimension is directly related to the consequences of the socially alarmed conflict, while the external dimension is related to the activities that produce or promote the development of the conflict, such as the expansion of drug trafficking as an economic activity, economy, affectation of neighboring countries, etc.
Focusing on the internal dimension, the official figures given by the Center for
Historical Memory of the National University of Colombia there are at least 220,000 people dead, 45,000 missing and more than 27,000 people kidnapped7 during the years of active conflict.
What is the object of the conflict?
Notwithstanding the duration of the confrontations and their consequences (political, economic and human), I do not consider that the object of this particular conflict is deep in nature since, despite containing divergent and subjective elements (such as political positions more non-identity), recent negotiations have shown that the causes of the generation of the conflict were fully negotiable, that is, the majority were of a material nature as evidenced in the first three points in the Final Peace Agreementsigned during 2016:
- Comprehensive agrarian development policy Political Participation: transition from armed group to political group End of Conflict: end of armed actions by both sides.
These items represent some of the characteristics identified in the module as superficial objects of conflict such as economic power (agriculture) and political power (political participation)
What is the intensity or depth of the conflict? Is there presence of violence?
Based on the contributions of Johan Galhung, in this conflict there are types of violence:
- Direct violence: physical violence represented in the number of fatalities, number of people displaced by the conflict and number of people kidnapped in the course of the clashes Cultural violence: this conflict is the result of the radicalization of political thought in the country since times independence to date, a factor that turns these violent behaviors into a form of behavior tradition inherited from generation to generation (during the years that the conflict was active) Structural violence: although not very evident, structural violence This conflict focuses on the use of weapons as a mechanism for political action, and with the signing of the peace treaty,A new spectrum can be opened in which other groups consider the use of arms as an alternative to the mechanisms of political participation, in addition to stigmatizing the sides from the collective perception of citizens (rural and urban as antagonists).
Is it an intractable conflict? Is it basically a negotiable material conflict of interest?
This is a negotiable conflict of material interest as stated above. However, I would like to add to what was previously argued that, although the signing of the peace treaty has ended the armed conflict, the social conflict continues in a new scenario that occurs after the silence of the weapons and that involves both sides (guerrilla and government), as well as new actors (general society, affected society, economic apparatus, etc.)
Who are the parties? What are your perceptions of the conflict? What is its history?
The parties to this conflict are two main groups: the first referring to the National Government represented through its political heads, its military and police leadership, and the second the guerrilla group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) represented by their leaders (responsible for each armed front).
The first, in its position of legality, understands the actions of the armed groups as illicit activities, while the guerrilla groups understand the state and its laws as oppressive elements of the people and their needs.
What type of resources will be necessary to carry out this professional intervention?
In this conflict, political, economic and diplomatic resources were required. In political resources, it was necessary to use negotiators on the part of each side, mediators of the negotiation processes and validators of the process as legitimate.
The economic resources were required to achieve a synchronized logistics and without problems of any kind for the mobilization of representatives of each side, at the same time that they are a fundamental asset for the post-armed conflict process (reintegration into the society of the guerrillas, literacy, job creation, etc.). Finally, diplomatic resources allowed the negotiations to be carried out in a territory other than the Colombian one and their second task was to monitor, verify and validate the process as legitimate.
Synthetic diagnosis
The Colombian armed conflict, in the faction that is related to the FARC guerrilla, can be seen as a deep conflict due to its intensity and damage, but with elements typical of a low intensity conflict. An example of this statement is that several of the demands (objects) on the part of the guerrilla group were based on negotiable elements and interests, as evidenced by the signing of the peace treaty at the same time as it is projected into the future, through the transformation of the guerrilla to a legal and eligible political actor.
Despite these elements, and to avoid confusion, it is a deep conflict where there are interconnections between the three types of violence (direct, cultural and structural) in an intense way and is evidenced by the data previously shared. Likewise, it complies with one of the opinions of conflicts of this type, as it extends to both the past and the future, a stage of the conflict has already ended, but it will require more time for its progressive treatment.
DIAGNOSIS
| Level of violence | Bando (A) Government | Side (B) FARC |
| Direct | - Military action against the guerrillas with international support in weapons, technology and human resources.
- Stigmatization of the enemy in the collective imagination - Repression (at the beginning of the conflict) of political freedoms and participation with the outlawing of the communist party and discrediting of leftist tendencies in the national political panorama |
- Attacks against the civilian population, infrastructure and public and private goods.
- Terrorist actions such as bombing and armed attacks - Illegal economic activities such as extortion, kidnapping and torture - Causes of forced displacement and numerous deaths related directly or indirectly with the conflict |
| Cultural | - Give priority to the military option before the option of a negotiated solution to the conflict
- Differential treatment of the actors raised in arms depending on their role (differences between paramilitaries, guerrillas, hitmen, criminal gangs for political purposes, etc.) - The generation of panic among the population to justify investments aimed at military actions |
- The generation of regulations, laws and the like parallel to the state ones for the collection of money such as permits to work in a certain area and war taxes
- Recruitment and submission of members of the guerrilla organization to norms that humiliate and abuse their sexual conditions and age. - Justification of their actions through political and revolutionary speech. |
| Structural | - Confrontation handled for years as an unofficial internal conflict, that is, it was never granted a status or recognition of conflict to deal with the situation and its actors under that paradigm.
- With the stigmatization of the enemy, a culture of hatred and rejection of opinions that do not agree with those of the current presidency is continuously produced. |
- The radicalization of their political position by indiscriminately attacking those who do not take communion or support their cause of armed struggle as an organization or thought of each of their leaders in each area of influence where they are present.
- The use of arms as an effective method of political pressure as an ideological inheritance to the other social conflicts that occur in the country. |
CROSS ANALYSIS
| (B) Direct | (B) Cultural | (B) Structural | |
| (A) Direct | - The acquisition of increasingly sophisticated war material for combat ends up affecting the civilian population, public, natural, economic resources, etc. in addition to the exacerbation of direct violence.
- The prolonged duration of the conflict results in the development of war economies as alternatives for maintaining the war. - Radicalization of political positions, stigmatizing everything on the left as a guerrilla and everything on the right as a fascist. |
- The stigmatization of the enemy does not contribute to the end of the conflict through a negotiated route, so a military confrontation is chosen.
- The justification of the guerrilla acts is generated by the demonization of the left currents as a political option. - As the military intensity increased, more and more combatants were required on each side, in cases, leaving aside their gender, age, or desire to participate. |
- The denial of dialogue or any other mechanism is the main element that increases the armed confrontation.
- The radicalization of positions generates additional tensions of not being able to discuss public affairs for fear of being related to one side or another. |
| (A) Cultural | - Prioritizing military action has made the forms of violence during the confrontations seek new actions in the form of bombs, forced displacement, kidnappings, etc. | - The generation of panic on the part of the parties has forced them to take sides or select sides in order to survive depending on the area where those affected are.
- Advocating for one side or the other, then, does not lie in a question of agreeing or not, but of survival. - The differential treatment of the actors in the conflict according to their activity leads to the justification of political actions and discourses. |
- The radicalization of political thought leads to the use of violence as a method of repression against those who think or have a different opinion, using weapons as a method of pressure, action and political reaction. |
| (TO)
Structural |
- The non-recognition of the actors in the conflict leads to the reaffirmation of their identity through symbolic and / or violent acts | - Without an official status of the conflict, networks of war economy, regulations, laws and differential treatment are created both for the sides, between them through confrontation and for the civil population as affected by the
war exchange |
The stigmatization of the enemy and the radicalization of positions superimposes military action as a mechanism for ending the conflict over non-violent means such as talks or peace negotiations. |
TREATMENT OF SOCIAL CONFLICT
Based on the 3 Rs proposed by GaltungThe main elements that have helped to transform the armed conflict into a positive are identified below.
| Treatment | Level of violence | Keyword | Description |
| Reconstruction | Direct violence | Trust | With the end of the armed conflict by mutual agreement, it is intended to achieve the restoration of trust through the use of dialogue as the main method of negotiation and not weapons. |
| Resolution | Structural Violence | Participation | The creation of participation mechanisms contributes to the structural resolution of a conflict that arises, in the first instance, from the lack of capacity for participation of the conflict actors in the construction of their reality without being subjected to repression or deprivation of liberty. |
| Reconciliation | Cultural violence | Recognition
nto |
The recognition of the actors in the conflict as equals before society and before the law allows reconciliation between the members of each side and the civilian population. |
ANALYSIS OF RESOLUTION METHODOLOGIES
In the event of being ready for the establishment of negotiations as a methodology for ending the armed conflict and mediation in the resolution of social conflict, accompanying the negotiators, the following actors are proposed according to the Vertical Strategy (aka traditional) for conflict resolution.
| Vertical Strategy | |||
| Violence Level | Actor | Strategies | |
| Direct | - Appointed or spokesperson of the ultimate leader of the side
(government and Guerrilla) |
- Unify communications to avoid confusion
- Establish regular channels for procedures, declarations and protocol - Be the last instance in decision making |
|
| - Chief of armed actions | - Management of key information for the elaboration of arguments and negotiation proposals | ||
| - Third mediator validator | or | - Oversight of the processes, decisions and results of the negotiations to grant them public validity | |
| Cultural | - Representative of
victims of the conflict |
the | - Visualization and dissemination of the opinion of those affected by the violence and who do not belong to any side to stimulate negotiations |
| - Third mediator validator | or | - Oversight of the processes, decisions and results of the negotiations to grant them national and international validity | |
| Structural | - Legal representative | - Legal and legal validation of the actions, agreements, proposals and commitments of the sides during the negotiation |
| Multitrack system | ||
| Violence Level | Actor (according to sectors) | Strategies |
| Direct | government | Represent sovereignty and final decision making |
| NGO | Oversight of the processes, decisions and results of the negotiations to grant them public validity | |
| Financing | Availability of resources for the progress of the process | |
| Investigation | Collection of historical data for analysis | |
| Communication | Dissemination of the achievements, actions and elements of the process for public knowledge | |
| Cultural | Religion | Mediation between the actors involved or affected by the conflict |
| Citizen | Make known the opinions of the actors affected by the conflict | |
| Private sector | Management of alternative scenarios in economic sectors for the development of negotiation proposals | |
| Communication | Dissemination of the achievements, actions and elements of the process for public knowledge | |
| Structural | government | Guarantee proposed changes during the negotiation stage |
| Financing | Availability of resources for the progress of the process in its implementation phase | |
| Activism | Generation and review of proposals placed on the negotiating table | |
| Investigation | Data collection and analysis for the construction of historical memory | |
| Communication | Dissemination of the achievements, actions and elements of the process for public knowledge | |
SYSTEMIC INERVENTION PLAN FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CONFLICT
The conflict intervention plan will be carried out through the execution of three phases with specific objectives that are articulated to achieve the general objective, which is the transformation of the conflict as a desired result. In turn, each of the phases will have specific actors, as stipulated in the multi-track strategy with the aim of involving the greatest number of actors in the process for the joint search for solutions of common benefit.
Phase one will be focused on coordinating efforts to stop and end all types of violent action that endangers the lives of people inside and outside the conflict.
Phase two will be focused on creating an environment conducive to jointly elaborating solutions to the problems postulated to address and prevent similar problems. Subsequently, this phase will also aim at the agreement and implementation of the agreements reached.
Phase three is a transversal type, which must be active from the beginning of the transformation process, from the beginning of the negotiations, the formulation of solutions, their approval, their development in the field. Phase three must make use of communication to be an observer, facilitator, transporter of information and constant participation of third parties to achieve positive, shared and lasting transformation. This extends much more than the previous two phases.
| Phase 1 - Stop armed actions | |||
| Violence Level | goals | Actors | Role in negotiation |
| Violence | - Stop the use of physical and moral violence as a form of interaction between the actors involved
- Establish negotiation protocols and a favorable environment to advance in the process |
government | Represent sovereignty and final decision making |
| NGO | Oversight of the processes, decisions and results of the negotiations to grant them public validity | ||
| Financing | Availability of resources for the progress of the process | ||
| Investigation | Collection of historical data for analysis | ||
| Communication | Dissemination of the achievements, actions and elements of the process for
public knowledge |
| Phase 2 - Prepare, elaborate and implement | |||
| Violence Level | goals | Actors | Role in negotiation |
| Structural | - Generate an environment conducive to joint development of solutions
- The review and approval of the agreements reached - The implementation and evaluation of the agreements |
Religion | Mediation between the actors involved or affected by the conflict |
| Citizen | Make the opinions of the actors known
affected by the conflict |
||
| Private sector | Management of alternative scenarios in economic sectors for the development of negotiation proposals | ||
| Communication | Dissemination of the achievements, actions and elements of the process for public knowledge |
| Phase 3 - Transforming the process together | |||
| Violence Level | goals | Actors | Role in negotiation |
| Cultural | - Accompany the process in the previous two phases to witness their progress, characteristics and details
- Generate communicative dynamics between all the actors involved - Generate links between the participants of the process develop it in the most cooperative way possible |
government | Guarantee proposed changes during the negotiation stage |
| Financing | Availability of resources for the progress of the process in its implementation phase | ||
| Activism | Generation and review of proposals placed on the negotiating table | ||
| Investigation | Data collection and analysis for the construction of historical memory | ||
| Communication | Dissemination of the achievements, actions and elements of the process for public knowledge |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Peace Agreement in Colombia. (2017). Final Agreement. Available at: http://www.acuerdodepaz.gov.co/acuerdos/acuerdo-final. Concha, PC (2009). Johan Galtung's conflict theory. Revista de paz y conflicts, 2, 60-81.BBC, (2016). The impressive figures that show the scale of the war in Colombia. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/mundo/media37519896. Cardona, P. (2008). Conflict can also be positive (if we know how to manage it). Newsletter, (40) Gallego, CM (2008). FARC-EP: Notes for a political history 1958-2006 (Doctoral dissertation, Tese de Doutorado) National University of Colombia Bogotá). Galtung, J. (1998). After violence, 3rd: Reconstruction, reconciliation, resolution: Facing the visible and invisible effects of war and violence, Legómez, EP, & Peñaranda, R. (1991). The FARC (1949-1966):from self-defense to the combination of all forms of struggle. UN, Institute of Political Studies and International Relations. MIGUEL, PY, & PERAL, L. (2006). Institute of International and European Studies »Francisco de Vitoria», ed. «. The conflict in Colombia »(PDF). Accessed March 29, 2017 Romero, LMR (2015). International criminal court: an obstacle to peace in Colombia? Legal Mission, 8 (8), 133-148. Leongómez, EP, & Peñaranda, R. (1991). The FARC (1949-1966): from self-defense to the combination of all forms of struggle. UN, Institute of Political Studies and International Relations. Gallego, CM (2008). FARC-EP: Notes for a political history 1958-2006 (Doctoral dissertation, Tese de Doutorado) National University of Colombia Bogotá).According to the definition given by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, arable land is defined as that which is dedicated to annual crops (annual plants: cereals, potatoes, legumes, vegetables, industrial crops such as cotton or tobacco, etc.), distinguishing it from other concepts, such as land dedicated to permanent crops (vineyards, olive groves, fruit trees, etc.) and pasture land (applicable to extensive livestock farming). MIGUEL, PY, & PERAL, L. (2006). Institute of International and European Studies »Francisco de Vitoria», ed. «. The conflict in Colombia »(PDF). Retrieved March 29, 2017. Romero, LMR (2015). International criminal court: an obstacle to peace in Colombia? Legal Mission, 8 (8), 133-148. Cardona, P. (2008).Conflict can also be positive (if we know how to manage it). Newsletter, (40).7 BBC, (2016). The impressive figures that show the scale of the war in Colombia. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/mundo/media-37519896. Peace Agreement in Colombia. (2017). Final Agreement. Available at: http://www.acuerdodepaz.gov.co/acuerdos/acuerdo-final. Concha, PC (2009). Johan Galtung's conflict theory. Journal of Peace and Conflicts, 2, 60-81. Galtung, J. (1998). After the violence, 3rd: Reconstruction, reconciliation, resolution: Facing the visible and invisible effects of war and violence.
