Almost there
Peace in Colombia is just a vote away
Colombia continues to make its way toward the end of a bloody, now 52-year-old civil war between its government and a rebel movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC.
Although some American elements preferred the situation in Colombia when the government’s war against the FARC, a sometime-Marxist, drug-dealing organization, was in full flower, permitting considerable American military involvement in the country and substantial arms sales, there is no question but that the Colombians themselves would benefit greatly from the end of the long, painful war.
The latest step was the signing Monday in Cartagena by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and top FARC military leader Rodrigo Londono of an accord which, if approved by a plebiscite of Colombian voters, would end the war and begin to build a peace. It is estimated that the war has cost 220,000 lives and displaced some 5 million Colombians. The cost in terms of the country’s economic development is inestimable.
The next step is the referendum on the agreement, scheduled for Sunday. It is expected that it will be approved by a large margin, even though the previous president, Alvaro Uribe, a favorite of the United States, is one of the leaders of the opposition to it. Criticism centers on the claim that the agreement is too soft on the FARC, given the heinous crimes its forces committed during the war.
The American government also is edgy on the accord because of the role played in reaching it by President Raul Castro of Cuba. The government of U.S. President Barack Obama maintains some reserve toward Cuba and Mr. Castro in spite of steps taken in the final years of Mr. Obama’s second term to improve relations with the island nation, no doubt based on the continued role played in American campaign politics by Cuban exiles, in swing state Florida and elsewhere.
The war with the FARC is the last serious war underway in Latin America. It is very much to America’s interest that it end. Americans should cross their fingers that the referendum on Sunday approves the settlement. Colombia has suffered enough from Cold War conflicts.