Some of the main conclusions reached in the “Antioquia talks with Havana” panel discussion held in Medellín on April 8th included committing to the peace process based on victim recognition and reparations and ending the conflict to ensure it does not happen again. Other main conclusions were to enable real political participation of all social groups and to seek to build a more inclusive and equitable society.
Juan Fernando Cristo, Senator and Guillermo Rivera, Member of the House of Representatives, were event speakers who centered their messages on the need to support the victims in the process of truth, justice, reparation and avoiding repetition. The speakers focused on inviting society to mobilize this Tuesday, April 9th, in support of the victims and the peace process.
At the regional level, the speakers were Iván Marulanda, Peace Advisor for the Antioquia government; Luis Bernardo Vélez, Medellín City Council Member; Edison Muñoz, Deputy of the Antioquia Department Assembly; Jorge Iván Posada, reporter for El Colombiano; and Diego Herrera Duque, President of the Popular Training Institute.
Below are the main proposals from some of the speakers who participated in the discussion panel. The discussion was attended by about 300 people.
Juan Fernando Cristo, Senator (listen to speech)
Full reparation to the victims is an essential condition to solve the country’s conflict. Nothing is accomplished by signing an agreement with FARC if there are no reparations to the victims.
Ten years ago, the victims in this country were not recognized. This society endured 30 years of having our backs turned to the victims. The difference of this process in Havana, Cuba, is that there will not be a successful peace process if FARC does not start by recognizing their victims. This was never considered in the El Cagúan peace process.
I believe this is a fundamental element, not only in the Havana negotiation, but also in the future of Colombian society: how to incorporate five million excluded compatriots, who make up 10% of the Colombian population; how to incorporate them in building a much more civil society, more responsible with human rights, and more modern, which the country should have.
But there are sectors of Colombian society who are opposed to peace, and as the process progresses in Havana and there is some success in the agreements, these sectors will make every effort to sabotage the peace process.
The situation today is different from that in the year 2000. When ex president Pastrana began talks with El Caguán, there were no open enemies to peace. Today not only political, also economic sectors are against the process; it is convenient for these sectors that the war continues.
That is why it is important to have citizen mobilization not only tomorrow—April 9th, the Day of Remembrance and Solidarity with the Victims—but on a permanent basis. We invite you to mobilize to show that those opposed to peace are a minority and those of us who support peace are the majority.
Guillermo Rivera, Member of the House of Representatives (listen to speech)
There are myths that those in opposition—to the peace process—are spreading and you must discredit these. The first is that the talks are private. But what is discussed and agreed upon in Havana must be brought to the institutional framework and is going to have to be discussed directly with the country. Even President Santos has not ruled out the possibility of a referendum.
It has also been said that it is being negotiated behind the country’s back. Here we are not even negotiating the peace of this country. The peace of this country is not achieved through a document that the Government and FARC negotiators could eventually sign.
The peace of this country is achieved and built when there is equity in this country, when the victims are recognized and dignified once again, when sectors that have been marginalized from opportunities to participate in the political process can do so.
Another myth is agreed-upon impunity. [It is] absolutely false that impunity is being negotiated. [It is] false that the legal framework for peace, which is a constitutional reform that we passed in Congress, is a monument to impunity.
The legal framework for peace says no more and no less than the Colombian State must honor its international obligations to investigate and punish those responsible for crimes against humanity.
Of course that same legal framework establishes transitional justice criteria (…) –which indicate that the punishment of crimes against humanity may be mechanisms for transitional justice. In other words, mechanisms that assure victims’ rights when transitioning from a society in an armed conflict to a society at peace.
We Colombians have to decide later through the Congress of the Republic (…) we are going to have to regulate the legal framework for peace through a statutory law. In this law we will certainly define the mechanisms for investigating crimes committed by the armed organizations that are demobilized and subject to transnational peace.
We will also have to decide which punishments we shall impose, and we will have to decide which crimes could eventually be considered related to political crime. But the constitution says that through legal framework, the rights the victims have to truth, justice and reparation are non-negotiable; in other words they have to be guaranteed.
Luis Bernardo Vélez, Medellín City Council Member (listen to speech)
Currently in Medellín, there are 375,000 victims of the armed conflict: 300 children and adolescents at the service of criminal gangs and 32,259 people who have been displaced within urban areas due to violence. (Source: Unit for Integral Attention and Reparation of Victims (2012 and 2013) and the Ombudsman (2012))
The main conclusions of Council Member Luis Bernardo Vélez were:
1) In Medellín, the City Development Plan must also be considered on the basis of the new challenges posed in the post-conflict stage.
2) The future of the 375,000 victims of the armed conflict who are in Medellín today, and of all those continuing to struggle with intra-urban displacement must be considered.
3) Some working groups between the City Government and the Federal Government should be formed. This way conditions are created for peace, social inclusion, democracy and equity through the Antioquia Medellín Alliance (AMA).
4) Proposals on rights such as the Basic food basket should be considered, proposed by the Regional Corporation, National Union School (ENS), University of Antioquia (UdeA), Long Live Citizenship (Viva la Ciudadanía), Confiar (financial cooperative), Cariño, and Antioquia Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations (FAONG)
5) The Municipality needs the State to make an effort in the area of psychological assistance and modifying warmongering language in everyday life.
6) The negotiation process must leave Havana and be brought to the local and regional arenas, allowing for the participation of civil society, social organizations, victims of the conflict, academia and the communities to guarantee transparency in the process.
7) Conditions should be created for forgiveness in a society that has lived in the middle of apparent social conflict almost its entire history.
8) Recognize the political actors; this becomes a cultural and social challenge to build a new peace modality for Medellín, Antioquia and Colombia.
Diego Herrera, President of the Popular Training Institute (listen to speech)
After signing the agreement ending the conflict, it is necessary to develop a few tasks in a post-conflict scenario of reconciliation; and organizations of civil society, political sectors and different governmental actors will play a fundamental role. I believe there is a first step for a larger job for society there.
There is an element of being “in tune” with the process because there are still many sectors of society that have reservations and distrust the process. This is a fundamental element that we must work on in Antioquia. We must make progress in winning citizen support and creating a reflective environment in which people learn and debunk the myths that exist in the regions regarding Havana.
From this perspective, it is essential in a post-conflict scenario that the society of Antioquia and Colombia is prepared to receive the fighters that are returning to civilian life.
-The other thing is that there are two problematic points from the perspective of the future, in an eventual post-conflict period. The first is the issue of drug trafficking and drugs, on which I believe we must continue to make progress in the region (…) in a legalization strategy. This would be to begin disengaging and discussing one of the themes that is central to the violence and fueling the war in this city.
Another major problem is the political participation of different actors; I believe it is necessary to open the field of participation and political representation in this society. We cannot continue to be closed, and in this way we can overcome anti-democratic and authoritarian discourse that still persists today.
