Capstone Project

1. Overview of the negotiation

This Capstone project will focus on the peace negotiations
between the Colombian State and the Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP), also
known as the peace process in Colombia, were the talks that
took place between the Government of Colombia (on behalf of
the State) and the FARC-EP guerrillas to put an end to the
internal armed conflict in Colombia that began in 1960. These
dialogues, which took place in Oslo and Havana, led to the
signing of the Final Agreement for the Termination of the
Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace in
Bogotá on November 24, 2016.

A first peace agreement, signed in Cartagena on September 26,

2016 had to be endorsed in Colombia in a plebiscite in which
citizens had to vote "Yes" or "No": the final result was a victory
for "No" with 50.2% of the votes, against 49.7% voting for «Yes»,
which forced the Government to «renegotiate» the agreement
taking into account the objections of opponents of the
agreement, while creating uncertainty about the legal
application of the agreement. After a period of negotiation with
the promoters of the "No", the government and the FARC-EP
agreed on a new text for the peace agreement which was signed
on November 24 in the Colon Theater in Bogota. This new
agreement was ratified by the Colombian Senate and the House
of Representatives, on November 29 and 30.11 In search of
peace, with social responsibility.
 2. Background of the negotiations

During 2006-2010 he was the High Presidential Adviser for the

Social and Economic Reintegration of Individuals and Groups Up
in Arms and later appointed as High Commissioner for Peace
Frank Pearl, who on behalf of the government of Álvaro Uribe
sought to negotiate secretly with the FARC-EP (with other
government officials) and under conditions similar to the current
ones: without ceasefire and even demilitarize Colombian
territory (what is known as demilitarized zones). However, due
to the delivery of the body of Julián Ernesto Guevara, who died
in detention by the guerrillas, the approaches of that
government with the insurgency were stagnant until the arrival
of Juan Manuel Santos to the presidency; although being
president-elect, Juan Manuel Santos received a "splicing report"
from Pearl, through which he was informed of the state of the
failed approaches.

During 2011, through the promulgation of the Victims and Land

Restitution Law, the already inaugurated President Santos
expressed to the guerrillas his intention to resume discussions,
which led to a series of secret communications through
messages between the subversive and the government. These
links gave rise to the establishment of face-to-face meetings in
Cuba; The Colombian government delegates for these meetings
were the presidential adviser for reintegration Alejandro Éder
and Jaime Avendaño, a presidential official from the government
of Belisario Betancur, while the FARC-EP delegation was made up
of Rodrigo Granda, a freed guerrilla during the Uribe
government, and Andrés París, one of the ideologues of that
organization, who was also in the peace talks between the
Pastrana government and the FARC-EP. Finally, after several
scenes of discussion, the parties opted for the preparation of an
agenda and, failing that, the organization of the next place where
they would continue to talk.

Once the parameters were established through which the next

meetings would be carried out, Santos included in his delegation
Frank Pearl, who served as environment minister, his national
security adviser Sergio Jaramillo, former vice president
Humberto de La Calle and lastly, his brother Enrique Santos,
former director of the newspaper El Tiempo. According to
Semana magazine, the inclusion of Enrique generated credibility
in the process, first because he is a close relative and second
because of the "possibility of talking with one of the few
Colombians who knows them personally." In response, the FARC-
EP They delegated Mauricio Jaramillo, commander of the José
María Córdoba Northwestern Bloc, Marcos Calarcá, known for
his experience in issues of bilateral negotiations, Rodrigo Granda
known as FARC-EP chancellor, and finally Andrés París; delegates
by the Secretariat of the Central General Staff.

Once their respective delegations had been designated, as part

of the process, the government and the FARC-EP designated
Cuba and Norway as guarantor countries, Cuba, for having
hosted the first meetings, and Norway for being a country with a
tradition in matters of conflict resolution, also because several
politicians and diplomats have extensive knowledge of issues
related to the armed conflict in Colombia. Subsequently, the
parties discussed the need to appoint more facilitators and that
is when the guerrillas chose Venezuela and the government
chose Chile.
In February 2012, both the participating countries and the
facilitators proceeded to meet in a strategic place to continue
the discussions. With the intention of preserving the
confidentiality of the process, the delegations did not talk with
each other, nor did they talk with Cuban civilians. For the month
of August, ten preparatory sessions were developed: each one
consisted of four to eight days, in total, sixty-five sessions were
counted. During those months, the government negotiating
team made constant trips to Cuba and vice versa, with the
exception of Frank Pearl who remained in Cuba all the time.

In August 2012, in the city of Cartagena, Uribe told a media

outlet that the Colombian government was clandestinely
negotiating with the FARC-EP in Cuba; Statements that Defense
Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón and Foreign Minister Holguín
rejected. However, as the days passed, the rumors increased and
on August 27, in one of its broadcasts, the TeleSUR network
expanded the information on the matter; 24 hours later, the top
guerrilla leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN) Nicolás
Rodríguez Bautista alias "Gabino" announced that said
organization was interested in the alleged negotiation table.
Subsequently, President Santos confirmed that he was indeed in
dialogue with the FARC-EP in Cuba.