A woman reacts during the broadcast of the handing over of weapons of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) at the municipality of Mesetas, in Bogota, capital of Colombia, on 27 June 2017. Jhon Paz/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images. All rights reserved.
"If there is hope in Colombia, then there can be hope everywhere". It is with these words that a taxi driver in Bogotá greeted me a few days ago. Indeed, in a rather challenging year for human rights across the globe, the peace process in Colombia appeared as an unexpected development bringing hope. Its implementation, however, is far from an easy task.
Following my visit to Colombia I can see three possible scenarios for the immediate future. The optimistic one is close to what the FARC leadership is fighting for and what many would expect: transition to a democratic order, which would entail the transformation of FARC into a political party. Yet, this scenario is stumbling over time. How easy is it to heal a half-century of wounds within one summer? On the other hand, time is pressing: the forthcoming presidential elections are likely to bring about an ally of former president Uribe to the country’s leadership, and then the peace agreement will, most probably, vanish in the haze.
