Crisis Management Consultants Review the FARC Columbia Peace Talks

On August 25, 2016, Colombian President Juan Manual Santos announced, after four years of negotiations, that a peace deal was secured with the FARC guerrilla movement. This accord was to be ratified during a national referendum on October 2, 2016. In a move that stunned the world, the Colombian people rejected the peace-deal by a thin margin of 50.2% to 49.8%. Analysis of the vote showed a clear urban/rural split with most of the pro-deal votes coming from the rural areas most affected by the conflict and additional support coming from Colombia’s capital, Bogota.

The rejected peace deal extracted many concessions from the FARC. The militant group promised to help eradicate illegal drug crops, remove landmines in the areas of conflict, and offer reparations to victims. In return, the agreement called for the Colombian government to facilitate the FARC’s reincarnation as a legal political party. Additionally, FARC leaders could avoid prosecution if they participated in community service and made reparation payments to victims of the conflict. In the end, the FARC Columbia peace talks resulted in many Colombians believing that the deal was too lenient on the FARC, therefore causing them to reject the agreement.

Although the initial FARC Columbia peace talks didn’t result in a signed and approved deal, the Colombian government and the FARC are still at the negotiating table and attempting to draft another accord. According to news reports in Colombia, President Santos believes an agreement could be reached by the end of November, possibly triggering a second referendum. As the peace process moves forward, the international security and crisis management professionals at IMG Group will continue to monitor developments closely.

Crisis Management Experts Review the History of the FARC

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known as FARC, is a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla movement that has been battling the Colombian government since the mid-1960s. The group mainly inhabits the south and southeastern parts of Colombia’s jungle and Andean mountains region. The FARC is the largest and oldest insurgent group in the Americas and one of the most well-funded guerrilla movements in the world.

The conflict between the government and the FARC grew out of a previous civil war known as “La Violencia” that raged in the 1940s and 1950s. After the civil war, the government pursued policies that deprived small farmers of their land, fomenting the proliferation of armed leftist groups in the rural areas of Colombia. One of the leaders of these groups, Manuel Marulanda Vélez, would go on to found the FARC in 1964.

Over the past half century, the conflict between the government and the FARC has claimed over 220,000 lives. The guerrilla movement is responsible for human rights abuses; including torture, kidnapping, and extrajudicial executions. Additionally, the group has financed itself heavily through the drug trade, particularly cocaine. For these reasons, the FARC has been designated a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia, the United States, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, and the European Union.

Learn More About IMG Group, a Top Crisis Management Consulting Firm

IMG Group, a top international security consulting firm, has extensive experience in crisis management and employee travel security. To learn more about the solutions offered by IMG, please visit: http://www.theimg.com/security-services/crisis-management-consulting-and-support

About the IMG Group

The IMG Group is a leading international security consulting firm with considerable experience in executive travel security and crisis management consulting. Corporate or business organizations concerned about their need for global security expertise can reach out to the IMG Group for assistance. The company’s expert security consultants provide services such as employee travel security, VIP and executive protection, corporate risk assessment, workplace violence consulting, international meeting security, technical surveillance countermeasures and more.

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