September 4, 2012, a day that changed Colombians life. Once again Colombia faces a peace negotiation with the FARC, but this time everything is different from the past failed negotiations. First, these negotiations have an agenda and are being held in front of the whole world, giving reports constantly to the Colombians. Second, it is the first time in which both parts have a true will for peace and reconciliation; this can be seen in the fact that the FARC have accept they are offenders and not victims for the very first time. Third, the victims of the conflict are playing an important role in the negotiations and are being considered as an essential part of the process. Finally Colombia is witnessing true peace negotiations, but not everyone is in favor of this process, there are some people that not only disagree with the negotiations but are against them and want to stop them. Álvaro Uribe and his apprentice Oscar Iván Zuluga want to change the negotiations through the new presidential elections. Zuluaga is the candidate from the political party Centro Democrático, one of his politics is against the peace negotiations; he asks for surrender instead of negotiation. Peace negotiations need to succeed in Colombia, but this can only happen under realistic negotiating conditions.
The country needs the negotiations to succeed because there would be an important economic improvement. The victims of the conflict are not only the ones that are threatened by the FARC, there are victims of fear. Fear is a terrible friend everywhere, especially in economy; no one will invest in an insecure country. "The results of a survey made by the Universidad de los Andes in 2008 showed the effects of the conflict. The results showed that "three four...
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...s similar to the ones Colombia is facing today: “courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace,” Nelson Mandela.
Works Cited
Castillo V., María Pilar, and Giácomo Balbinotto. "LAS FARC Y LOS COSTOS DEL SECUESTRO" ["THE FARC AND THE COSTS OF KIDNAPPING"]. Revista de Economía Institucional 14.27 (2012): 147-64. Web.
Charria, Arturo. Personal interview. Nov. 2013.
"El precio de negociar la paz en medio del conflicto" ["The Price of Negotiating Peace in the Middle of the Conflict"]. Semana 2 May 2013: 1. Web.
Sáenz, Jorge. "Guerra interna impide creación de al menos un millón de empleos, revela estudio" ["War Impedes Creation of at Least One Million Jobs"]. El Espectador 19 Nov. 2013, Economía: n. pag. Web.
Zuluaga, Óscar Iván. "Por qué me opongo a las negociaciones" ["Why I am Against the Peace Negotiations"]. El Tiempo 28 Oct. 2012: n. pag. Web.
In 1898, three big events got in the way of any peaceful resolution in Cuba. The New York Journal received a letter from the Spanish minister in Washington, Enrique Dupuy de Lo...
Rigoberta Menchu, a Quiche Indian woman native to Guatemala, is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for politically reaching out to her country and her people. In her personal testimony tittled “I, Rigoberta Menchu” we can see how she blossomed into the Nobel Prize winner she is today. Following a great deal in her father’s footsteps, Rigoberta’s mobilization work, both within and outside of Guatemala, led to negotiations between the guerillas and the government and reduced the army power within Guatemala. Her work has helped bring light to the strength of individuals and citizen organization in advocacy and policy dialogue on the world scale. In a brief summary of the book I will explore why Rigoberta Menchu is important to Guatemalan development, what she did, and how she helped her people overcome the obstacles thrown their way.
Plan Colombia is a long-prevailing foreign aid package bestowed to the country of Colombia from the United States. This foreign aid package grants substantial financial assistance to Colombia, intending to fight the “War on Drugs” and to reduce the trafficking of narcoleptics, but there is a multitude of other factors and implications, both unintentional or indirect and intentional due to ulterior motives. To accomplish the goals of Plan Colombia, most of the aid has been provided in the form of armed forces. This situation is complicated because of the ongoing civil war between the government of Colombia and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army (FARC). Additionally making matters difficult has been the strong association of the Colombian military and some right wing paramilitary units. Such conflict in Colombia exacerbates its drug problem, but Plan Colombia allegedly seeks to tame.
As the Medellín Cartel was the largest drug cartel in Colombia at the time, they had controlled 80% of all the cocaine supply that was entering the United States. Despite the fact that Escobar donated millions of dollars to the local people of Medellin and funded the construction of schools and sports centers to help create a good reputation for himself. But even if he did donate millions of dollars to the poor, it was still just a chip into the Medellín Cartel’s wealth. By looking at the statistics of the number of people who were affected by Escobar’s acts of terror it has become evident to me that the negative effects of the Medellín Cartel had heavily outweighed the benefits of how Escobar tried to give back to the local people of Colombia.
Throughout centuries man has witnessed some of this worlds greatest tragedies; the destruction caused by the bubonic plague, the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the Rwandan Genocide. However, none of these can compare to the devastation caused by world dictators. The lives taken at the hands of these tyrannical rulers is unbelievably distressing, and ex-Dominican president, Rafael Trujillo is no exception. Throughout his thirty year reign over the Dominican Republic he is thought to be responsible for the lives of over 50,000 innocent people, none of these devastating losses, however, compare to the tragedy of the Mirabal sisters; three honourable women who did nothing but have a voice. The level of political misconduct and unjustified action was unbelievable and lead the sisters to drastic measures, Patria saying "We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime, we have to fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, including my life if necessary.". In their efforts to try and overthrow the totalitarian they found themselves trapped in a situation where the lives of them and their families were constantly at risk, and in the end it was through their tragical ...
April 9, 1948, was a tragic day in Colombia’s history. On this day, Jorge Eliécer Gaítán, a candidate for the presidency of Colombia, was assassinated. In the 10 hour period that followed the assassination, angry mobs marched throughout the city of Bogota, looting and burning down over 100 buildings. Before the night would end, nearly 3,000 people would die in the streets. This terrible event in Colombia’s history is today referred to as the Bogotazo. This paper examines some of the underlying reasons contributing to the outbreak of this violence and the events that transpired during the Bogotazo. The paper concludes that the events leading to the violence of the Bogotazo are still present in Colombia today and will hamper its prospects for peace in the future.
While the 200,000 people killed during the 36 years of civil war is a large number the average violent deaths per year has increased to 54,223 in the years between 2000 and 2010 (Birns). The violence is an impact of the civil war leaving behind an inadequate judicial system and a corrupt police force without resolution by Peace Accords. The people now more than ever take matters into their own hands considering the court system leaves “ninety-seven percent of cases unsolved” (Birns). It is even common for many people who do not receive adequate “justice to form lynch mobs or hire assassins”
During 1979-1992 El Salvador was engaged in a civil war, with the government fighting the rural indigenous citizens. Violence and gang culture were taking over the country and creating a cycle that can’t be easily broken. El Salvador’s citizens were searching for new power, opportunities, and a way out of poverty.
Colombian citizens experience and live through the good and bad things Pablo does, when Americans only hear about the negative actions Escobar commits. Hearing versus seeing plays a vital role in the difference of perspectives between the Colombians and Americans. In the United States, only hearing about Pablo Escobar leads to confusion among different people as “For what, exactly, isn’t easy to understand without knowing Colombia and his life and times” (15). American civilians not knowing personally know why they hate Escobar reflects poorly on the United States. The media does not inform the general public about all the great and generous things Escobar accomplishes for Colombia, and only publishes the stories of his cartel killing innocent people. From the perspective of Colombians, they only know Escobar as a hero of Colombia as “At his death, Pablo was mourned by thousands. Crowds rioted when his casket was carried into the streets of his home city of Medellin” (15). Colombians create a national mourning day for Escobar after his death, when the Americans celebrate their success in killing him. This represents the difference in opinion of Escobar between the two countries. Pablo made promises and he conqueres them; he said he would end poverty as he provided education and housing to the poorest people inside of Colombia. On the other hand,
The Zapatista movement began on New Year’s Day in 1994, the day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was to go into...
Mandela used this forgiveness to assist him in his attempts to “win over skeptic whites” and negotiate “the country’s first all-race elections” (Myre).
M. E. McGuinness (Eds.), Words Over War: Mediation and Arbitration to Prevent Deadly Conflict (pp. 293-320). New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
“The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices: submit or fight” (“Nelson Mandela”). Nelson Mandela took the chance and fought for his rights and freedom. Mandela has gone through many troubles in his life since the day he was born. A young man that had no shoes till he approached the age of sixteen, and then transformed into a great political leader of his country. Mandela’s life is an impressing story to be told!
A period of time is required after war to decide the necessary procedure for people to have justice because it is the government’s legal obligation. After studying the cases of Chile and South Africa, it is clear that they are two cases worth studying side by side in terms of the relationship between truth and justice in modern politics, as well as in relation to victims in modern age.
...to forgive one another for human rights abuses during the apartheid years to come . Nelson Mandela was known as a peacemaker and he also won the Nobel Prize for Peace Prize . The Christian faith that Nelson was exposed as a child is based on sacrifices . Nelson also reflect these sacrifices in his years in prison .