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An article from the Mennonite World Review

Partners of Mennonite Central Committee in Colombia continue to walk with people affected by more than 50 years of violence as new armed conflict emerges even after a peace accord.
Violence among armed groups is escalating as FARC-EP guerrillas demobilize, threatening Mennonite Brethren churches in the Chocó region.

Members of a Colombian Mennonite Brethren Conference visit a rural community in the San Juan region shortly after the community experienced significant flooding. The community is stuck in the middle of violence between the Gaitanista Self Defence Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary group that occupies the area, and a guerrilla group vying for power. — Brendah Ndagire/MCC

The country’s largest rebel group, FARC-EP — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — signed a peace accord with the government last year. But “there is still a long journey toward peace,” said Amy Eanes, an advocacy support specialist for MCC in Colombia.

Some armed groups are becoming more active, hoping to assert dominance and claim territory once occupied by the FARC-EP.

This is especially true in rural areas of the Chocó region, where MCC partners with the Mennonite Brethren Conference, whose members are working and praying for peace.

Living in fear

A member of one of the churches, Maria Camila, whose real name isn’t being used to protect her identity, says another guerrilla group is fighting the Gaitanista Self Defence Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary group that normally occupies the area, and it’s very dangerous there now.

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Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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Armed conflict between the two groups broke out in February, months after the peace accord was signed by the FARC-EP. In one part of the town, the guerrilla group threatened to shoot civilians if they didn’t open their doors because the guerrilla fighters believed members of the paramilitary group were hiding there.

“Even though you know that God says that wars will come and in the midst of all these things God will protect you, it was something so terrible — to feel the shootout, to hear the sounds,” she said. “I just said, ‘Lord, have mercy on us and watch over us,’ but we thought this was going to be the end.”

Camila has never felt so unsafe. “We aren’t free to walk around at night. We all live shut in our houses,” she said. “All of us in the community are frightened. That’s why we’re living like this.”

She has little faith the peace accord will make a difference in her community or other rural areas in Colombia.

“In reality, the hope we have is from God,” she said.

Teaching peace

MCC continues to support partners in Colombia that work on peacebuilding initiatives and assist some of the most vulnerable families, particularly those displaced by violence. The conflict has resulted in 7 million internally displaced people.

In April, MCC embarked on a three-year peace-education project with the Mennonite Brethren Regional Council of Chocó to promote an understanding of a culture of peace and how to encourage peacebuilding among youth and young adults.

One of MCC’s partners, the Church Coordination for Psychosocial Action, supports churches and organizations, enabling them to provide trauma awareness and healing, build resilience and contribute to peacebuilding and reconciliation in Colombia.

MCC works with a number of Mennonite churches and organizations in Colombia who have been actors for peace for many years.

“The churches are figuring out what this post-accord period will look like for them, and I think it’s important to walk alongside these partners,” Eanes said.

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An article from Sputnik (translated by CPNN)

The peace delegations of the Colombian Government and the ELN guerrillas announced on June 6 that they reached a series of agreements at the negotiating table in Ecuador during the second round of talks in that city, including international financing to push forward the peace process.

The new President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, assures that his administration will continue to support the peace process.

“A fund to finance the peace process has been established by negotiators for the Colombian National Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN). Its objective is to mobilize contributions from international cooperation to finance, in a transparent and flexible manner, the expenses for its development, “they said in a joint statement.

They also pointed out that during the first two weeks of negotiations in the second round of talks (which began on 16 May) they reached consensus on issues related to pedagogy and communication for peace.

According to reports, it was possible “to establish a joint team of pedagogy and communication for peace, whose general objective is to promote the construction of a culture of peace through the generation of trust and credibility, which gives greater strength to the work of the Dialogue Table and the agreements being reached. ”

Finally, they highlighted the progress in the creation of the group of countries for support, accompaniment and cooperation with the peace talks (GPAAC).

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What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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“The GPAAC, initially made up of Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, have defined the terms of reference that will guide their development,” the government and the guerrillas said.

The statement came after the national press reported that 206 people from different rural populations in the municipality of Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé (Nariño, southwest) were displaced last weekend by clashes between the ELN and criminal gangs.

“Community leaders reported that four older adults remain in the area where the fighting took place because of their health problems,” according to the local radio station Blu Radio. They added that the displaced are housed in homes of friends and relatives in a situation of overcrowding.

Neither the Government nor the ELN have yet commented on this situation.

The Colombian Government and the ELN have held public peace talks since last February 8, after the participation of that rebel group with the Executive was supported by sectors that consider that it is only possible to speak of a general peace for Colombia when an armistice similar to that achieved with the FARC is achieved.

The Colombian armed conflict, which has involved guerrillas, paramilitaries, state agents and drug gangs for over half a century, is the oldest war on the continent and has left some eight million victims, as well as 300,000 dead, 45,000 missing and 6 to 8 million displaced, according to official reports.

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An announcement by the Commission of the Culture of Peace and Citizenship

Conference on the Culture of Peace: PRACTICAL FORMS OF IMPLEMENTING UN RESOLUTION 53/243. “Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace”

Organized by the Commission of the Culture of Peace and Citizenship of the Consultative Council of the Civil Society of the Argentine Chancellery.

OPENING:

• Patricia Pérez
Director of the ILAPyC and Coordinator of the Culture and Peace Committee of the CCSC.

• Fernando Lorenzo
Special Representative for Integration and Social Participation. General Coordinator of the Consultative Council of Civil Society. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic.

EXHIBITORS:
• Alicia Cabezudo, Argentina – “The Peace Process in Colombia”
Member of the Pedagogical Team of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prizes. Responsible for the Training and Training Area of ​​ILAPyC. Member of IPB – International Peace Bureau.

• Domen Kocevar, Slovenia – “Auschwitz Project”
Founder and Director of Theosophical Library and Reading Room of Alma M. Karlin. He is currently working on the creation of the One Humanity Institute in Auschwitz.

DATE AND TIME

Mon. May 29, 2017
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ART
Add to calendar

LOCATION

Press Room, Palacio San Martín
Esmeralda 1231, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Argentina

Confirm attendance.

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An article from Rosario Net (translated by CPNN)

For the first time in Argentina, a unique meeting will be held that will bring together 5 Nobel Peace Laureates in one city. The reason: La PAZ. An initiative of the Foundation for International Democracy. VOYXLAPAZ is an action for the construction of a less violent world.

The meeting, on will include sessions, work panels and a public event that will bring together world peacebuilding activists along with leading exponents from diverse disciplines to raise awareness about the fact that peace can be promoted by ordinary people as well as Nobel Peace Prize winners and social activists.

FRIDAY JUNE 9

Panels with the 5 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Place: Rosario Stock Exchange.

9:00 “Education for Peace”. Rigoberta Menchú Tum

11:00 “Memory, peace and forgiveness”. Adolfo Pérez Esquivel

14:00 “Transparency, democracy and peace”. Oscar Arias Sánchez

16:00 “The role of women in peacebuilding”. Shirin Ebadi

18:00 “Work, democracy and peace”. Lech Walesa

The event is free subject to limited accreditation by room quota.

Accreditations (http://nannini.com.ar/acreditacion/paz/)

Panelists accompanying the Nobel Prize winners:
Emilio Pérsico, National Secretary General of the Evita Movement.
Dr. Facundo Manes, Neurologist, Neuroscientist.
Susana Trimarco, Mama of Marita Verón, president of the María de los Ángeles Foundation.
Rosario Lufrano, Journalist.
Marcelo Colombo, Protex.
Rafael Pérez Taylor, Director of Anthropological Research at UNAM.
Ramsés Vargas Lamadrid, Rector Autonomous University of the Caribbean

SATURDAY JUNE 10

15:00  Grand closing event at the National Flag Monument. Free admission.

With the live performances of:

Leon Gieco, Juan Carlos Baglietto, Jairo, Patricia Sosa, Peteco Carabajal, Hilda Lizarazu and Raúl Porchetto. Musical Direction and Artistic Production: Lito Vitale.

The five Nobel Peace Prizes will share a microphone with singers, athletes, exponents of the arts, culture, science and education.

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Question related to this article:

 
Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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NOBEL PARTICIPANTS AWARDS:

Shirin Ebadi (Iran) Nobel Peace Prize 2003
Iranian lawyer and human rights defender. She was one of the first women to be a judge in her country and had to seek exile after the Islamic revolution. Ebadi founded the Association for the Support of Children’s Rights and provided free legal advice to persons accused of political, ideological and religious motives. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work on democracy and human rights, especially for women and children.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum. (Guatemala) Nobel Peace Prize 1992
Indigenous Guatemalan. She was a victim of discrimination and devoted her life to peacefully combating attacks on the indigenous population. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her struggle against inequality and her role as an advocate for the rights of indigenous communities and women.

Óscar Arias Sánchez (Costa Rica) Nobel Peace Prize 1987
Costa Rican politician who assumed the presidency of his country in 1986, critical period for Central America due to the conflicts that were developed in countries like Nicaragua and El Salvador. He worked on structuring a peace plan for the region, known as the “Plan Arias,” signed by all Central American presidents on August 7, 1987. The consolidation of the peace process earned him the Nobel Prize in 1987 .

Lech Wałęsa (Poland) Nobel Peace Prize 1983
Polish politician and trade unionist. He was one of the leaders of the workers’ mobilization of 1980 and president of the union “Solidarity” during the communist period. Their struggle focused on improving the political and economic conditions of the working class. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his work to solve the nation’s problems through negotiations and joint work without violence and won the presidency of Poland in December 1990.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Argentina) Nobel Peace Prize 1980
Argentine activist, defender of human rights and the right of free self-determination of peoples; Defender of non-violence and of the peaceful struggle for justice and freedom. He is president of the Honorary Council of the Peace and Justice Service of Latin America, executive president of the Argentine Peace and Justice Service, the Provincial Commission for the Memory of Buenos Aires, the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, the International Academy of Environmental Sciences, of the International University Foundation of La Pau de San Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona), and of the Academic Council of the University of Namur, Belgium.

This is the way. Let’s start building PEACE. Step by step.

FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY

The Foundation distributes its efforts in 3 main areas of work:

-The design of the first Museum of Private Democracy in the world to be inaugurated in Rosario.

– Culture of Peace Program, which aims to generate social awareness about the importance of peacebuilding and the idea that peacebuilding is born of an individual decision and contributes to a collective construction.

– The struggle against contemporary slavery and similar practices: research, design and promotion of public policies and fieldwork.

Its president, Guillermo Whpei, was recently honored in Guatemala by the 1993 Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu ​​Tum for “his impetus to place at the center of the world agenda the abolition of all forms of urban violence and contemporary slavery. Among the world’s leaders for peace.” Awarded by the Secretariat of Peace of the Presidency of the Republic of Guatemala, and the 2016 International Maya Award (Madrid).

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An article by Hernán Camacho in Seminar Voz

More than 300 organizations in 18 departments signed on to the National Pact for Life and Peace.

It was more than just a peace initiative. The National Peace Congress, held between 27 and 29 April, became a mobilizer of a vision that can ead us along the path towards a stable and lasting peace. The expectations of the social organizations that convened the Congress were fulfilled, the agenda of new mobilizations and peace initiatives is already being confirmed, and most importantly, those attending the Congress signed the National Pact for Life and Peace.

Closing of the National Congress of Peace in the Place of Bolivar in Bogota.
Photo NC News.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

It was more than just a peace initiative. The National Peace Congress, held between 27 and 29 April, became a mobilizer of a vision that can ead us along the path towards a stable and lasting peace. The expectations of the social organizations that convened the Congress were fulfilled, the agenda of new mobilizations and peace initiatives is already being confirmed, and most importantly, those attending the Congress signed the National Pact for Life and Peace.

This pact is a commitment that describes the current reality of the implementation process of the Havana agreement, and the peace process in Quito with the ELN. But it also draws on what is happening today in the territories where there are conflict scenarios, Transition Areas of Normalization and in the territories where the Farc was present. A Pact for Life calls us to take the weapons out of national political life and to promote reconciliation among Colombians.

Difficulties

This was said in Bogota by the secretary general of the Colombian Communist Party, Jaime Caycedo, who attended the regional peace congress that was held at the Minuto de Dios University, on Friday, April 28: “Taking the weapons out of politics involves not just the insurgency, but those sectors that are based on paramilitarism and maintain a war against the forces of the left that propose an alternative to a corrupt and patronizing country, “said Caycedo.

And the concern, which the participants of the initiative mostly pointed out in the regional meetings, refers to the increase of the paramilitary presence in each one of the departments of the country. The main concern is in Chocó, Antioquia, Cesar, Meta, Caqueta, among others. Testimonies such as those of settlers in Cacarica and Urabá Antioquia, warn that there are paramilitary forces present with the approval of official troops. “The Army is paralyzed.”

Timing of renegotiation

But paramilitarism was not the only topic of discussion in the long days. For Senator Iván Cepeda of the Democratic Pole, the Peace Congress should mean a boost to the implementation process and attention to lost time and putting legislative initiatives on the fast track.

“The processes of renegotiation of the agreements need to be finished and that the legislative process for integral agrarian development should be initiated immediately,” said Cepeda, who invited the candidates and candidates for the Presidency of the Republic to Respect and commit to the signed peace accords.

The United Nations, represented by its resident Martin Santiago Herrero, said that his presence at the Peace Congress is a sign of the will of the international community to accompany each of the initiatives that contribute to the realization of peace.

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What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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“Peace is an opportunity for transformation and change in those regions that have suffered from the conflict. But experience also shows that the first 18 to 24 months are the most important in the implementation of the agreements. All efforts are necessary, “said Santiago.

The UN is concerned about three worrisome issues to consolidate peace. On the one hand, to safeguard the lives of human rights defenders and some cases of death to ex-combatants of the FARC and their families; On the other hand, the presence of criminal successor groups of the paramilitaries, and the need to advance the peace process with the ELN.

The intervention of Roberto Menéndez, Head of the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia of the OAS, was in the same vein. “The Peace Congress motivates the efforts made by the national government, insurgencies, communities, women, indigenous peoples, Afro peoples, workers and the people in generating them out of the tragedy of the conflict. But we must recognize that the Congress that boasts of having different visions of peace, “said Menendez.

Regional peace

For Green party leader Ángela María Robledo, the Peace Congress revealed that peace has a regional focus: “We are here to continue to accompany implementation and give unconditional support to the ELN peace talks. We have to take the weapons out of politics, we must strengthen the rule of law and we must focus on peace in the regions to transform the lives of the Colombians of the deep Colombia, “said Robledo.

The guerrilla commander Iván Márquez made an appearance and expressed his gratitude for the invitation to the FARC-EP. From the rostrum he noted: “The peace agreement of November 24 signed at the Teatro Colon, are more than 310 pages. It is the birth certificate of a transforming power that in the hands of the people and statesmen with vision, can be used to fill our homeland with humanity, inclusion, respect for the other and social justice. It is urgent to activate the great national political agreement mentioned in the introduction of the agreement that defines the reforms and institutional adjustments to address the challenges that peace demands by imposing a new framework of social coexistence, “said Márquez.

The fulfillment of the agreement that Iván Márquez demands, was reiterated by Commander Victoria Sandino, who denounced the lack of advances in the process of implementation of the agreements in the Congress and in the Transitional Areas of Normalization. “We are building a conflictive peace, starting with the situations of the paramilitary phenomenon unleashed throughout the national territory. They are killing the comrades and relatives. Peace can not be possible in the midst of death, “said Sandino.

Government

Another of the attendees was the ex-mayor of Bogotá Rafael Pardo, who noted that the next step in the implementation process will be the ambitious economic plan that should establish agricultural points to replace illicit crops. “May is the key month for implementation. These are major challenges, as the FARC must finish the arms embargo and the Government must present the Framework Implementation Plan, which has to do with points one and four for the next 15 years. This framework will regulate local and national development plans for the next three five-year periods and how they are to be executed. For this, it will be the Council for Economic and Social Policy who will set the budgetary frameworks for the agreements, “said Rafael Pardo who is now serving as post-conflict minister.

At the end of the day the conversation turned to the question: How is the process going with the ELN? The participants were Alberto Castilla as moderator, Juan Camilo Restrepo, chief negotiator of the Colombian government in Quito and guerrilla chief Eduardo Martínez, of the ELN. They stressed the importance of the participation of local communities because they are the ones that today suffer the war. “We will continue at the table, ready to advance in the path of difficulties, but with everyone involved,” said Eduardo Martinez.