FARC opens what Colombia hopes is last wartime meet
Group will fight on as political party
YARI PLAINS, Colombia: Colombia’s Marxist FARC rebels will continue their fight for social justice under a peace deal with the government, its top commander said yesterday at the opening of the group’s final congress as an armed group. Representatives from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are expected to ratify the recently agreed accord at its tenth congress this week, the first ever open to the media.
Standing before hundreds of fighters in southern Colombia, rebel commander Rodrigo Londono, who uses the nom de guerre Timochenko, said the FARC wants to spread its message as an unarmed political party and transform the Andean nation after five decades of war. “Our greatest aspiration is to reach many more with our message until the torrent for transformation is overwhelming,” Timochenko told a crowd of fighters gathered on the rural Yari Plains, about five hours from the nearest town.
“In this war, there are neither victors nor vanquished,” he said, wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of FARC founder Manuel Marulanda. “The greatest satisfaction will always be to have won peace.” The congress, which in the past was secret and used to decide battle strategy, may offer insight into the FARC’s political agenda. The schedule for the event mirrors the peace talks agenda, including land reform and environmental issues.
After almost four years of talks, the FARC and government last month reached a final peace accord that will be signed by Timochenko and President Juan Manuel Santos on Sept 26. Colombians will have the last word during a plebiscite on Oct 2. “We’re going to vote for peace,” said Jhon Guerrero, a 24-year-old delegate from a rebel unit in Choco, along the Pacific coast.
“What’s been agreed in the deal is a solution to Colombia’s problems.” “We are all ready to contribute,” he said, as he stood unarmed but in full uniform among other fighters. While the FARC may find an electoral foothold among poverty-stricken farmers and committed leftists, many Colombians are wary ex-fighters will join crime gangs or smaller rebel group the National Liberation Army. Santos, who has staked his legacy on peace, has launched a campaign to convince Colombians to back the accords but he faces fierce opposition from powerful sectors of the country who believe the only solution is to finish the FARC militarily. Many are angered that the FARC leadership will not serve jail time, and are worried they will seek to convert the traditionally conservative nation with its Marxist ideals.
Conference
The week-long conference marks the first time they will discuss peace instead of war during such an event. If all goes according to the FARC leadership’s plan, it will end with the group’s relaunch as a political party. The FARC, which today has an estimated 7,500 fighters, concluded the peace deal with the government on Aug 24, followed by a bilateral ceasefire. The Colombian conflict, which has drawn in other leftist guerrillas, rightwing paramilitaries and criminal gangs, has killed more than 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and forced nearly seven million to flee their homes.
The 297-page document comprises six separate deals: Justice and reparations for victims of the conflict; land reform; the FARC’s relaunch as a political party; disarmament; fighting the drug trafficking that has fueled the fighting; and implementation and monitoring of the accord. Jimenez flew in for the conference this week from Cuba, where the peace talks were held.
Arriving at the conference site in the vast Yari plains, several hours from the town of San Vicente del Caguan, he underscored the event’s importance. “Everything we are now doing will help us achieve our goals,” he said, stepping off a helicopter provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to the guerrilla media outlet Noticias Nueva Colombia. Some 200 FARC delegates, including 29 members of the general staff and delegates elected by the rank and file, will vote on the peace deal. The conference is set to mark another first: FARC leaders will be meeting not in secret, but with the authorities’ full support in the presence of around 900 people, including 50 guests and some 350 journalists from around the world. The conference is set to take place in a brick building the guerrillas hastily constructed amid tall grass. — Agencies