March for peace in Bogotá, Colombia. Nelson Cárdenas DPA/PA Images. All rights reserved.
On February 6th, the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s second largest rebel group, released Odín Sánchez, a former congressman they had been holding hostage for the previous nine months. The following day, just outside Quito, Ecuador, the Colombian government began official talks with the ELN. Such momentous steps towards progress have been possible due to the successful peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). However, back in October when I was about to travel there, a resolution of this ongoing conflict seemed unlikely. A nationwide referendum had just voted against the peace deal. The “No” had taken the day by the stupendously narrow margin of 0.2%. This result was as surprising and unpopular as Brexit and the current US president. So, why do people around the world vote against peace, unity, and progress, against choices that obviously make sense? This question has been plaguing me for many months. And though there isn’t one straightforward answer, learning about the political situation in Colombia gave me a frame of reference to grasp what is going on elsewhere. But first, to understand Colombian politics, we must examine why and how these rebel groups were formed.
Looking at Colombian history as a whole, one can consider the FARC and the ELN as byproducts of colonialism and the political divide it subsequently produced. Haves have a lot to lose; have-nots have nothing to lose. The large economic gap created a two-party system, with each party at each end and not much middle ground. And through Colombia’s history, the fierce competition between the Liberals and the Conservatives often became bloody, resulting in a succession of civil wars. But it was a single event, the assassination of charismatic Liberal Party leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948, that set into motion FARC’s conception.
