Colombia and Rebels Agree on Drug Fight (original) (raw)

Americas|Colombia and Rebels Agree on Drug Fight

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/world/americas/colombia-and-rebels-agree-on-drug-fight.html

May 16, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela — Negotiators for the Colombian government and the country’s largest guerrilla group said Friday that they had reached an agreement on ways to fight drug trafficking as part of broader talks aimed at ending five decades of war. The announcement came barely a week before a presidential election that could hinge on how voters view the peace talks.

The drug accord, announced in Havana, where the talks are being held, is particularly important because officials in Colombia and the United States say that the guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC for the initials of its name in Spanish, is a major drug trafficker, relying on income from the cocaine trade to finance its activities.

“Imagine a Colombia without coca,” President Juan Manuel Santos said in a televised speech, referring to the plant used to make cocaine. “That is within our grasp if we implement these accords.”

But officials offered few details of the deal other than generalities about how it would help farmers who grow plants like marijuana or coca, which is used to make cocaine, to switch to other crops. It will go into effect only if a full peace accord is reached, and there are still many difficult issues to resolve.

Mr. Santos started the talks with the FARC in late 2012, hoping to end decades of bloody conflict, but the talks have dragged on with only limited results.

Voters will cast ballots in the presidential election on May 25, but it appears likely that there will be a second round of voting between the top two candidates, scheduled for June 15. If there is a runoff, it is likely to pit the center-right Mr. Santos against his far-right challenger, Óscar Iván Zuluaga, who is backed by former President Álvaro Uribe.

Analysts say the race is too close to call.

Mr. Santos has cast himself as the peace candidate, making the talks with the FARC the main element of his campaign.

Mr. Zuluaga and his backers, including Mr. Uribe, charge that Mr. Santos is willing to give away too much to achieve peace, and they are appealing to voters who want to see the FARC defeated on the battlefield.

Mr. Zuluaga has called the talks a farce, but as a candidate he has moderated his stance, saying that if elected president he might continue peace negotiations if the FARC ceases all criminal activity.

Negotiators have agreed on two other interim accords, which would create a framework for the FARC to take part in the political process and reduce rural inequality. Among the issues that still need to be negotiated are how to put an end to the fighting and disarm the guerrillas and how to compensate victims of the war.

The FARC and another rebel group, the National Liberation Army, announced Friday that they would observe a cease-fire from Tuesday to May 28.

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