International Crisis Group
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Reassembling Colombia’s Rejected Peace Deal
Three interlocking sets of negotiations can still end Colombia’s 52 years of civil war, even after a 2 October referendum voted down a 26 September peace deal. But success will need energetic new engagement by all sides – especially in the region.
SOURCE: Crisis Group
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CrisisWatch 
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“Peace deals with the two groups are therefore unlikely to be reached at the same time. Nonetheless, Colombia’s chances to have a sustainable peace-building process and end its half-century of armed conflict are much improved by the negotiations with the ELN. Despite the challenges, the prospect of signing agreements with both the FARC and ELN heralds great changes for this South American nation.” —Crisis Group’s Colombia Senior Analyst Kyle Johnson explains why the history of the ELN and its horizontal political structure make it such a unique negotiating actor
Source: Crisis Group
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After four years of negotiations in Havana, Cuba, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) hope to sign a final peace agreement in 2016. In this video, Crisis Group’s former Colombia Senior Analyst Christian Voelkel explains Crisis Group’s 14-year-long engagement in ending a half century of deadly conflict.
SOURCE: Crisis Group
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The National Liberation Army (ELN) Joins Colombia’s Search for Peace
The Colombian government announced on 30 March the beginning of the formal phase of peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN), the second largest guerrilla group in Colombia. These talks, together with those nearing completion with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana, are the country’s greatest opportunity yet to end 52 years of armed conflict. But how different will this peace process be compared to the one with the FARC? What lessons can be learned from the latter, and what incentives do ELN leaders have to achieve a substantive agreement? In this Q&A, Crisis Group’s Colombia Senior Analyst Kyle Johnson explains why the history of the ELN and its horizontal political structure make it such a unique negotiating actor.
Photo: REUTERS/Marco Bello
SOURCE: Crisis Group
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Statement on the Transitional Justice Agreement between the Colombian Government and FARC
The agreement on transitional justice reached by the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and publicly announced yesterday in Havana is a major breakthrough in the four-year peace talks. In effect, it anticipates the termination of the 51-year armed conflict. In an unprecedented personal meeting, President Juan Manual Santos and FARC’s maximum leader, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry (“Timochenko”), agreed that a final peace agreement would be signed within six months.
FULL STATEMENT (Via Crisis Group)
Versión en españolPhoto: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
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Border drama: A first-hand account from Cúcuta, Colombia
On 22 August, the government of Nicolás Maduro closed the border crossing that links San Antonio del Táchira with the Colombian city of Cúcuta. In the succeeding days, more than a thousand Colombians were summarily deported via the Simón Bolívar international bridge between the two countries. Amid a sharp increase in the number of troops deployed in the area there were numerous complaints of human rights violations. At the time of writing, more than 20,000 people (most of them Colombians) have crossed the border of their own volition, fearing deportation and abuses. Almost 4,000 are in temporary shelters in and around Cúcuta.
FULL BLOG POST (Via Crisis Group)
Source: Crisis Group
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Venezuela’s Dangers Spill across the Colombian Border
On 21 August, the Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency in five (later extended to ten) municipalities on the border with Colombia, deploying up to 5,000 additional troops to the area and closing the border for what President Nicolás Maduro said would be an “indefinite” period. The measures were justified as a response to an incident in which three Venezuelan soldiers were wounded by a gunman the authorities said was a Colombian paramilitary acting on behalf of smugglers. The border has been closed on a number of occasions in recent years, the last time being in 2014. What has caused alarm on both sides of the border is the suspension of constitutional guarantees and the summary expulsion of Colombian citizens, over 1,000 of whom have already been deported, with at least a further 10,000 or so fleeing of their own accord.
FULL BLOG POST (Via Crisis Group)
Photo: AFP/Luis Acosta
Source: Crisis Group
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CrisisWatch N° 145 (01 Sep 2015)
Political crises and violent protests rocked a number of countries in August, including Guatemala, Nepal, Lebanon and Iraq, where popular unrest threatens to topple the government and overturn the post-2003 political order. Deadly conflict worsened in Yemen, Afghanistan and Kashmir, while violence increased in Burundi following President Nkurunziza’s successful run for a third term, and instability remained the norm in the Central African Republic where UN peacekeeping efforts faced a series of setbacks. A border crisis also prompted a dangerous spike in tensions between Colombia and Venezuela. On a positive note, August saw a peace agreement in South Sudan, strengthened prospects for political and constitutional reform in Sri Lanka, and an important political agreement ahead of October elections in Guinea.
FULL REPORT (Via Crisis Group)
Source: Crisis Group
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Colombia Peace Process: Lurching Backwards
Colombia’s peace process faces its most serious crisis yet, after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) suspended a five month old unilateral ceasefire. Instead of more measures to de-escalate the conflict ahead of a final peace agreement, there are now new risks that the confrontation will escalate, causing fresh humanitarian damage, crippling trust between the parties and further weakening public support for the process.
FULL STATEMENT (via Crisis Group)
Photo: Reuters/Efrain Herrera
Source: Crisis Group