An Outsider’s Inside View

Tomorrow, October 2^nd, 2016, the citizens of Colombia will be heading to the polls to decide if they are going to vote “SI” or “NO” on the peace accord signed back in August.  The Colombian government, under President Juan Manuel Santos, has been in peace negotiations with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in an attempt to end the 52-year-long conflict that has been ravaging Colombia for five decades.

220,000 lives lost; more than 80% were civilians

359 people were killed by landmines in 2013 alone

78 human rights defenders were assassinated in 2013

1,982 massacres

5.7 million internally displaced Colombians

25,000 people disappeared

27,000 kidnappings

Countless victims of sexual assault

These are the numbers of the conflict.  These are the numbers that have defined Colombia for so long.  And tomorrow the people of Colombia will go to the polls and they will decide, “Is this deal the best way to truly achieve peace?”

There is heavy criticism of this peace accord.  But before I get into that I need to say something.

I am an outsider.  I have no right to say what is right and what is wrong for the people of Colombia.  My degree in International Relations with a concentration in Latin American studies does not mean I understand.  The fact that I read The New York Times does not mean I have a grasp on the toll of this conflict.  Even my two years of living immersed in Colombia does not give me any right to tell the Colombian people what they need to do tomorrow.  I have not had a brother go off to fight and never come back.  My parents were not murdered in front of me as a child.  My kids were not disappeared.  My sister was not sexually abused.  I studied this conflict from research essays in the library stacks and articles read from the comfort of a Starbucks.  Even the last two years talking with people in my village about the effect of the war has definitely given me insight and allowed me to sympathize, but I cannot empathize.  And due to the fact that I am an outsider I acknowledge that my role in this historic moment is to listen and try to understand.  I can say from an analytical point of view this deal should be signed.  Actually, the deal is already signed. It was brought before the United Nations last week and signed there.  The FARC is already disarming and traveling from village to village, pleading with the victims to take the next steps toward peace and asking for forgiveness.  So tomorrow, then the people are asked to vote yes or no, I know that the “yes” vote will just affirm the steps that are already being taken.  I do not know what a “no” vote means, since this country is already taking the steps specified in this accord.

Why is there so much resistance to this deal?  In order to reach a compromise with the FARC, the Colombian government had to make some concessions.  There is a clause stating that if an alleged war criminal fully and without hesitation confesses to the entirety of crimes he committed, he will be allowed to go free and might even have a chance to enter Congress, if he can get elected.  Obviously this has people furious.  There are eight million victims in Colombia.  Eight million people that might see their tormentor one day hold a position of power in Congress.  However, if we look at the reality of the clause, there is actually a very small possibility that this would happen.  Let’s say, for example, that a war criminal confesses in detail to the 230 charges against him.  If ever a moment arises in which a 231^st crime is discovered that he did not declare in the trial, he will be immediately put into jail for 20 years.  If the prosecutors even find his evidence lacking, he is looking at five to eight years.  The majority of the war criminals will end up in prison.

For many victims, especially families of the disappeared, what they want is truth and reparations, not vengeful punishment.  This clause will hopefully give some peace to the victims.

The government has been working very hard to change the minds of the Colombian people.  A month ago, when the deal was announced, the majority of the people I talked to were firmly against the peace accord.  However, the government has flooded the radio, TV, newspapers, and billboards with messages of support for the deal.  This propaganda has actually had an effect on the people.  Now, when I talk to Colombians I hear more tentative support, even if it is hesitant.  The most common refrain I hear is, “The past is the past; it’s time for us to move on.”  It’s hard to hear.  Many people do not see this deal as the harbinger of peace and prosperity.  After 52 years, sometimes it’s hard to believe it can truly be over.

Tomorrow will be a significant moment in the lives of the Colombian people, whether the vote is si or no.  I hope that this deal will bring true peace to Colombia, so that this incredible country can live up to its potential and show to the rest of the world what the Colombians, and I, already know: this beautiful and vibrant country has so much to offer, if you would only give it a chance.

Vote “yes” and stop this war already