Colombia to Create New Congressional Seats Under FARC Peace Deal

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia to Create New Congressional Seats Under FARC Peace Deal
By Andrew Willis Sep 24, 2014 4:25 PM CT

Colombia will create new seats in its House of Representatives for war-torn regions of the country, according to the text of a draft agreement between the government and Marxist rebels published today.

President Juan Manuel Santos said the government was publishing the texts, which had hitherto been secret, to counter misinformation from opponents of the talks. The texts show that the government isn’t discussing its economic model with the rebels, Santos said.

“This should end all the misinformed speculation that people who aren’t friends of the process have been spreading,” Santos said today in New York. “The whole world will understand that there we are not negotiating our democratic system, our economic model, our development or our institutions.”

Government negotiators have held talks in Cuba since 2012 with guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, seeking a deal to end a 50-year conflict that has left more than 200,000 dead. Former President Alvaro Uribe and his allies have attacked the process, accusing the government of giving away too much in the talks, and of backsliding on security.

More:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-24/colombia-to-create-new-congressional-seats-under-farc-peace-deal.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Colombia’s peace deals in depth: Political participation

Colombia’s peace deals in depth: Political participation
Sep 25, 2014 posted by Joel Gillin

The Colombian government and rebel group FARC have agreed to temporarily create reserved seats for conflict areas in Congress in order to amplify these abandoned regions’ voice in national politics, the partial agreement on political participation that was released on Wednesday said.

The government and rebels released the full text of the agreement on political participation achieved last year in Havana, Cuba, as part of ongoing peace negotiations that began in 2012.

In its introduction, the deal mainly stresses the need for Colombia to amplify political participation of minority groups, women, and areas that have long been abandoned by the state partly due to the conflict.

According to the FARC and the government, a final peace deal should “contribute to the amplification and deepening of democracy, implying the abandonment of arms and the proscription of violence as a means of political action.”

More:
http://colombiareports.co/colombia-peace-talks-in-depth/