COLOMBIA/FILE: Former President Andres Pastrana sceptical over FARC peace talks

Record ID: 349571

  • Title: COLOMBIA/FILE: Former President Andres Pastrana sceptical over FARC peace talks
  • Date: 20th September 2012
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT PASTRANA HANDING ARMED HELICOPTERS TO THE POLICE
  • Embargoed: 5th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Crime,Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8NLSHO9FIDQ777VA1DFTVQK5X
  • Story Text: According to the last Colombian president to negotiate with FARC rebels, current leader Juan Manuel Santos will face an even tougher challenge in new talks this time around.
    Andres Pastrana says the rebel group is now deeply divided and some factions within it are against peace.
    He led the last attempt at reconciliation more than a decade ago, but those talks collapsed and were seen as having helped FARC to build up its fighting forces.
    Still, Pastrana said at the time there was a general consensus within Colombian society.
    "In my case I was elected by the people to make peace. Ten million Colombians voted for peace and decided to follow me. In (Alvaro) Uribe's case, people elected him to go to war. The country was 100 percent behind him when the FARC decided to break the peace process. In the case of President Santos, he is being judged on the polls and the polls show the country is deeply divided," he said.
    Santos is putting his reputation and political future on the line in going ahead with peace talks with FARC.
    According to a poll by Ipsos-Napoleon Franco published this week, 54 percent of Colombians do not want to see Santos re-elected in 2014.
    There are still many sceptics regarding FARC's intentions and its ability to transform itself from a criminal organization to a political one.
    "If FARC hasn't learnt its lesson from the time it dealt with us, and starts committing acts of terror, kidnapping, setting up car bombs in the cities and harming the population, it will really undermine the President. That's what we have to watch out for," said Pastrana.
    Doubts are marring the new process over the absence of several key members of FARC's armed wing.
    Only one known member of its ruling seven-member secretariat is expected to participate in the talks.
    Pastrana believes the absence from the new peace process of key figures, who are heavily linked to the drug trade, serves only to illustrate FARC's internal divisions.
    "Are the FARC united, are all the factions at the negotiating table. In our case, we knew that with Marulanda as the leader, his decision was final, that was our experience with the FARC. Today, is there still consensus (within FARC), or are there still factions that want to keep the drug business going, and don't want to start peace talks. Those are the main questions Colombians are asking," he said.
    Polls show that more than half of Colombians approve the peace talks set to start in Norway next month.
    However, they are strongly against any deal which would allow FARC leaders to run for office or give them amnesty for past crimes.
    Santos is also facing strong opposition from his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe.
    Uribe believes the government is being too soft on the rebels and negotiating from a position of weakness.
    A decade of Uribe's U.S.-backed offensive more than halved the guerrilla army's ranks and pushed it back to remote jungle and mountain hide-outs.
    There's a sense this is a make or break situation for Colombia and for the country's illegal drug trade.
    The drug trade has been highly beneficial to FARC, which depends on it to finance its operation.
    According to political analyst Leon Valencia, the country and the government have to put up a united front if it is to pass the test.
    "On one side we have powerful political voices, such as the one of former President Alvaro Uribe, strongly against peace. On the other side we have a criminal organization committing acts of terror to stall the negotiations. It's a very turbulent period for the country. The government, the Colombian society and the international community have to stand firm to combat this threat," he said.
    The conflict between government forces and leftwing rebels has claimed tens of thousands of lives over the years.
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