COLOMBIA:
Voting for Peace
By
Helda Martínez
BOGOTA, (IPS) -
More than 100 social
groups in Colombia are
calling for the
inclusion of a ballot in
favour of peace and an
exchange of imprisoned
guerrillas for
rebel-held hostages, in
the country’s Oct. 28
local and regional
elections.
In the coming elections,
Colombian voters will
choose 32 provincial
governors, 1,102 mayors
and around 5,000
lawmakers and town
councillors. And the
civil society groups
involved in the National
Movement for Peace also
want voters to express
their rejection of
violence in this civil
war-torn country.
"I vote for freedom,
peace and a humanitarian
accord (for a
prisoner-hostage swap).
I say no to kidnapping
and forced disappearance
and displacement, and no
to violence against
children and all other
civilians. I say yes to
life, truth, justice,
reparations and
guarantees that abuses
will not be repeated
again in the future.
Peace requires a
political commitment, a
ceasefire, dialogue and
negotiated solutions,"
states the proposed
peace ballot.
The ballot campaign,
launched on Thursday,
was inspired by article
22 of the Colombian
constitution, which
establishes that "peace
is a right and a binding
duty."
Taking part in the
initiative are the
Catholic Church,
non-governmental
organisations (NGOs),
trade union federations,
political parties,
associations of
campesinos (peasants)
and blacks, and other
civil society groups
working for an end to
the country’s more than
four-decade conflict.
"It is not sufficient to
just say that we are in
crisis," Monsignor
Héctor Fabio Henao,
known as the
"peace-maker" in the
Colombian Catholic
Church, told IPS. "We
have to speak out in
favour of justice and
against the war, sending
messages to those who
have assumed political
responsibilities as well
as those who exercise
violence. That is what
this vote is all about."
For nearly half a
century, Colombia has
been in the grip of a
civil war fuelled by the
drug trade, in which the
army and their (now
partially demobilised)
far-right paramilitary
allies face off with the
leftist Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) and National
Liberation Army (ELN).
"We cannot just sit back
with our arms crossed
waiting to see what the
government and the
guerrillas decide. The
peaceful citizen
uprising and pressure
must continue; the
people must be heard.
The common citizens must
take a stand," Camilo
González, director of
the Institute of Studies
for Development and
Peace, told IPS.
Referring to "the 35,000
people who have been
killed in the last 10
years, the 22,600 who
have been kidnapped, the
15,000 ‘disappeared’,
the four million
displaced from their
homes, and the 200,000
children orphaned by the
armed conflict,"
González stressed "that
is why we have to
continue."
He pointed out that "in
the last two decades,
citizens and social
movements in Colombia
have really made their
voices heard on several
occasions."
For example, in the 1990
presidential elections,
five million voters cast
a ballot in favour of an
initiative to call a
constituent assembly to
rewrite the
constitution. (The new
constitution was adopted
in 1991.)
That number doubled in
1997, when 10 million
voters came out in
support of the Citizens’
Mandate for Peace, Life
and Freedom.
The Mandate not only had
the support "of the
immense majority of
citizens, but of
irregular armed groups
as well, and helped give
rise to several
humanitarian gestures
and attempts at
negotiations," says a
statement by the
promoters of the peace
ballot campaign.
The civil society groups
involved in the campaign
also pointed to other
instances of successful
mass mobilisation, such
as the creation, by law,
of a National Peace
Council in 1998, and the
pressure that led to the
start of the peace talks
between the FARC and the
administration of Andrés
Pastrana (1998-2002) in
January 1999.
In addition, a "peace
week" has been held
every September for the
last 19 years. This
year’s, which began on
Sunday, has included
peaceful protests,
concerts and other
activities, as well as
the launch of the peace
ballot campaign.
In September 2004,
10,000 members of
indigenous communities
and 250 social
organisations took part
in a march called the
Popular Minga for the
Dignity of Indigenous
Peoples. (A minga is an
ancient indigenous
custom: a meeting or
assembly to achieve a
collective purpose.)
And in 2006, the
Permanent Assembly of
Civil Society for Peace
held its fifth plenary
meeting, with 2,000
delegates from 500
organisations, including
associations
representing victims of
the conflict.
If the campaign secures
approval from the
national electoral
authorities, voters in
the Oct. 28 elections
will be offered an extra
ballot to cast alongside
their votes for regional
and local candidates.
But if the authorities
fail to approve the
peace ballot, the
campaign plans to go
ahead anyway, setting up
unofficial ballot boxes
around the country to
allow voters to call for
a hostage-prisoner swap,
a political commitment
to peace and a
negotiated solution to
the conflict.
"Broad participation,
the tallying of the
votes, and continued
initiatives like this
one will enable us to
forge a path that in the
end will lead us to a
stable peace, even if
that remains a distant
possibility today,"
Bishop Henao remarked to
IPS. |
