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Three years ago, Colombia signed its famous Peace Agreement. In November 24, 2016, the ex-president, Juan Manuel Santos, and the then FARC’s commander-in-chief, Rodrigo Rodrigo Londoño alias Timochenko, signed the lengthy document of over 300 pages, that sealed the route to peace the country was to follow over the next 20 years.

The Agreement lost its momentum when, submitted to a referendum, it became a political tool. Irresponsibility resulted in Colombians losing the illusion of ending one of the country’s longest and bloodiest conflicts.

So much has happened in Colombia since then – a change in government, ex-combatants filling in political posts, recent local elections opening the door to political alternatives and, in recent weeks, massive social unrest – that an assessment of the Agreement’s implementation is fitting.

The questions that would need to be answered are: Were truth, justice and victim’s reparation achieved? Are the institutions that were created under the framework of the Agreement working as they should? Did the government and the ex-combatants fulfill the commitments undertaken? But more importantly, was peace truly achieved?

Colombia’s current polarization makes finding answers to these questions quite complicated, without being branded as sympathizers of one side or the other. In any case, we present you with a short, objective assessment of the Agreement’s implementation after three years of its signature, with more to be worried than happy about.

Citations

[1]https://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/procesos-y-conversaciones/Documentos%20compartidos/24-11-2016NuevoAcuerdoFinal.pdf