Colombians are going to vote to answer an incredibly simple question that has enormous implications for the country. Do You Support the Final Agreement for the End of the Armed Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace?
The plebiscite is a chance to ratify or disrupt the four-year-old peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia. It is controversial to consider ending five decades of conflict. A Yes vote is controversial, especially because previous peace negotiations with the FARC, which were only half-completed, failed to bring an end to the competition.
While polls show a clear lead in favor of the ” Si ” side, ” no ” is well organized and headed by former president Alvaro Uribe.
The Case for Si
The civil war claimed more than 20,000 lives, caused more than 7,000,000 displacements, and led to 25,000 disappearances and 30,000 kidnappings. Voting Yes will stop the confrontations between the FARC and the government and allow those who have been displaced due to violence to return home. The peace agreement also includes provisions that seek to correct the historical factors which led to the war and continued it. Since the FARC unilaterally declared a ceasefire at the end of 2015, violence in the country has dropped.
The agreement aims to legalise FARC participation in politics, allowing democratic channels to be the primary form of political expression rather than armed opposition. The FARC will be given five Senate seats and five House of Representatives seats for two electoral cycles. After that, they will compete in normal elections.
The Yes campaign hits the streets. John Vizcaino/Reuters
The accords require Colombia to invest heavily in rural development in order to close the gap between the economic growth which has primarily been concentrated in the cities and the poverty that has plagued rural Colombian peasants for generations. This is a core component of FARC’s Marxist philosophy.
Yes, voters want to see a rise in social programs, including health, education, and infrastructure development. This investment will increase the legitimacy of the government, improve state capacity in previously neglected areas, and discourage illegal activity in the Hinterlands.
A farmer harvests coca leaves. John Vizcaino/Reuters
Colombia’s repressive drug war has led to violence, corruption, and instability. Point 4 would change this. Instead of penalising coca leaf cultivators, Colombia will invest in crop substitutes (such as cacao and coffee) to try to change the economic incentives for peasant farmers. This would reinforce the move to treat drug use as an issue of public health. The law enforcement resources can be focused more strategically on criminal groups that profit from the drug trade.
In the agreement, Restorative Justice is given a high priority in addressing victims’ suffering. The severity of punishments for FARC members who have committed crimes against humanity is determined by their willingness to speak the truth. If they come forward and are honest about their crimes, then there will be restrictions on their freedom of movement but no prison. Those who do not will be facing significant jail time.
Voting yes in this referendum would mean saying no to a new conflict with the second largest and still active rebel group of the country, the ElN. It could also be a blueprint for negotiating a potential peace agreement.
The referendum may even encourage the ELN government to resume negotiations that have been stalled.
The Case for No
The current peace agreement, according to those who are pushing for No, is a gravely flawed document. The deal makes too many concessions to FARC and rewards terrorism and violations of human rights. The No vote would force the two sides to return to the table for further negotiations to improve the most controversial portions of the agreement. Some victims simply can’t imagine making a deal with a terrorist group that has murdered their family members, friends, and neighbors.
The ballot. Reuters
The FARC’s war has left lasting damage that cannot be repaired by signing an agreement. The FARC war has left behind psychological trauma, massive forced displacement, sex violence, recruiting minors, and a landscape littered with Landmines. Some people feel that the FARC’s war has caused more harm than it is worth.