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Peace and Justice Update - May 1, 2012, Volume 30, Number X
Latin America and the Caribbean
The Peace and Justice Update is published by the interns at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. The views expressed in the Update are not necessarily those of the IPJ or of USD. To subscribe, send an email to updates@sandiego.edu with "Subscribe" in the subject line. Click here for source information.
New evidence suggests that the FARC plan to enter the formal political arena
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest guerrilla group in Colombia, maintain that they are committed to pursuing peace talks with the Colombian government, but that they will not hand over any members of their group in the process.
The FARC’s supreme leader, who goes by the name of Timochenko stated, “sitting down to talk does not point to any type of surrender or delivery.” He continued, “the return [of the guerrillas] to civilian life requires a much different Colombia.”
Timochenko insisted that potential peace dialogues would need to address what he calls the government’s disposition to “crush” any amount of dissent. Regardless, he insisted that if important people in Colombia take steps towards peace, then the FARC will as well.
In light of a recent investigation, it seems that the FARC may be pursuing more peaceful, institutionalized means of expression.
The office of the attorney general announced that it recovered electronic documents from the computer of former guerrilla leader Victor Julio Suárez Rojas, killed in 2010, detailing the financial restructuring of FARC apparently in response to plans to form a political party.
Authorities believe that the idea was originally proposed by a top FARC leader, Iván Márquez. The documents indicated that each block of the group is required to pay a quota that will contribute to the foundation of a political party. Evidence points to 2014 as a time when the group will begin using certain already existing organizations to push their agenda while taking initial steps to consolidate and found a Bolivarian Patriotic Council.
It seems, as President Santos recently said, “It’s the hour of politics, not of weapons.”
Sources: Colombia Reports, Apr. 19; El Espectador, Apr. 14; El Espectador, Apr. 17; El Tiempo. Apr. 26, 2012.
By Amy Callahan. Send comments to amycallahan-12@sandiego.edu.
Rios Montt’s Hearing Postponed
Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez suspended, for the third time, the hearing in the case of genocide against former General José Efraín Ríos Montt April 24, due to two unresolved appeals presented by the defense of the ex-general.
During the suspended hearing, Gálvez was scheduled to review various appeals from Danilo Rodríguez, defense lawyer of Rios Montt, and two other retired military officers, in an attempt to avoid being prosecuted for genocide and war crimes during the first half of the 1980’s. “They accuse him [Rios Montt] of being part of the military, but we ask that justice be based on the truth,” Rodríguez said.
Last March’s hearing was suspended first because former generals, Héctor López and José Rodríguez, did not appear in court due to illness; and again April 11 due to a “procedural error.”
Although the hearing continues to be postponed, the charges against these men remain in place. At the moment, Rios Montt continues to be under house arrest, and López is at a health center suffering from terminal cancer, along with Rodríguez, who is also ill from an undetermined cause.
A new hearing date will be established once the First Board of Appeals resolves the objections, Gálvez said.
Sources: Prensa Latina, Prensa Libre, Univisión, Apr. 24; La Hora, Apr. 25, 2012.By Corina Lopez-Ramos. Send comments to clopez-ramos12@sandiego.edu.
Efforts by Veterans to Revive the Haitian Armed Force Continue
For years, the Haitian government has struggled to compensate the several thousand veterans who served in the armed forces before they were disbanded in 1995 by then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. However, Interior Minister Thierry Mayard-Paul told reporters April 23 that the government has about $2.65 million at its disposal for the compensation.
On April 25, hundreds of veterans showed up with their old identification cards to collect their pay at a former military academy in Port-au-Prince. Payments ranged from $1,625 to $1,750 depending on the years of service and the soldier’s rank.
The government’s recent effort however has failed to demobilize the rogue band of armed men pushing for the revival of Haiti's army. The group includes an estimated 3,500 former soldiers and other young followers.
This may be in part because President Michel Martelly and members of his cabinet have shown support for the reinstatement of the army in past communications. “It will not be an army that goes and fights. The goal is to have a force that can replace the U.N. and be prepared to handle natural disasters and other emergencies,” Haitian Defense Minister Thierry Mayard-Paul said.
Support of the reinstatement of the army has been facilitated by growing resentment among the people of the Caribbean nation toward UN peacekeepers, who have been providing security for Haiti since 2004, but have been accused of causing the cholera epidemic in 2010.
The military also serves as a source of employment for Haitians. “We are poor people, we need income,” said Frederic Markendy, 28, a trainee. “The army is one way.”
Currently, Haiti is one of a handful of countries without an army.
So far, Western governments have opposed Martelly’s position, arguing that bringing back an entity associated with decades of human rights abuses and corruption, as well as a bloody military coup in 1991, should not be a main priority for the devastated country right now.
Sources: BBC News, Jan. 24 Reuters, Mar. 1; Haiti Libre, Apr. 18; Haiti Libre, Apr. 24; AP, Apr. 25, 2012.
By Corina Lopez-Ramos. Send comments to clopez-ramos12@sandiego.edu.
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