Kidnappings, displacement, and deaths were just a few of the daily experiences of many rural farmers during the 52 years that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, controlled the countryside. The FARC was founded in 1946 to overthrow the government and to represent Colombia’s rural poor. By the end of its reign, FARC had terrorized the countryside, hurting the very people it was meant to help and represent.
After half a century of violence, Colombia’s Peace Deal with the FARC promised to bring a period of stability and peace for the country. While the nation’s transition from conflict to peace is one to celebrate, how effective has the Peace Deal actually been?
Former President Santos and ex-FARC leader Timoleón Jiménez shake hands after signing the Peace Deal in Bogota, Colombia. Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images
Decades of violence had destabilized rural communities, including their food security. In an effort to address this issue, the Peace Deal aimed to redistribute land to small-scale farmers who were forced to flee and improve food production and distribution methods. Unfortunately, little has been done to improve rural development, bring aid to those most affected, or to halt the violence.
One of the groups waiting for the Peace Deal’s promised help is the 6.4 million farmers who were forcibly displaced during the war between FARC and the government. During FARC’s reign, many rural farms were commandeered to supply cocaine that was used by the rebel group to finance their rebellion. Small-scale farmers, pressured to produce coca plants, the raw material for cocaine, halted the production of food crops. Economic incentives and lack of government trust kept many farmers in the coca production. Those who continued producing legal crops were forcibly displaced, as violence destroyed road infrastructure, irrigation systems, and prevented farmers from distributing and receiving crops. Many have yet to return, despite being promised that millions of abandoned hectares would be redistributed. As of 2017, only 5,400 of 106,000 requests for land have been processed.
Even if displaced subsistence farmers were to return, many would have to face the crop that forced them out of their land in the first place. Under the Peace Deal, the government promised to eradicate drug production, yet production peaked in 2017. Approximately 423,000 acres of land grew coca, a 23% increase from the year before, yielding 1,520 tons of cocaine, a 31% increase from 2016. This increase occurred despite aggressive eradication efforts, like aerial spraying, and crop substitution programs to provide an alternative to coca production. Most alternative crops offered by the government, like pepper and heart of palms, would cut farmer’s profits by half, leaving farmers even poorer than before.
Where the Peace Deal has been most successful is in disarming FARC. More than 6,804 FARC members have disarmed, and more than 8,994 weapons were surrendered. But as FARC demobilized, other rebel groups have taken their place, creating new challenges. The National Liberal Army (ELN), for example, continues to seize control of rural areas.
Escaping violence continues to be a daily struggle. Since the Peace Deal was signed, 500 community activists have been killed and more than 200,000 people displaced from their homes by rural violence. Had the government been able to deploy police forces and include other rebel groups in the Peace Deal it could have protected the lives of innocent civilians who have been caught in the crossfire for way too long.
It’s clear that the road to recovery is far from over. Efforts to implement the goals of the Peace Deal, such as providing reparations to war victims and investing in rural areas, have been halted under Iván Duque, the current president of Colombia. Mr. Duque has been a very public opponent of the Peace Deal, who has tried to change the terms of the agreement. While revisions to the agreement are unlikely, Duque has appointed members that oppose the Peace Deal to implement the agreement. This has left budgets for rural areas underfunded, as well as slowing down the government’s progress to fulfill its commitments.
While the Peace Deal successfully ended decades of war with FARC, investments in infrastructure, social services, and ensuring security in the countryside have not followed. Mr.Duque needs not only to commit to the Peace Deal in principle, he needs to commit to it in practice, providing the necessary funding and support, to finally bring an end to the violent hauntings of the past. Colombia needs peace, but with justice.