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Between 2001 and 2020, 75,731 people from illegal armed groups undertook the path of return to civilian life. To get an idea of the magnitude of this process, it is as if the entire population of a municipality like Calarcá, Quindío or Garzón, Huila, had demobilized after having taken up arms.
The path of ‘reconciliation’ of the last 20 years – which was traveled years ago by members of other groups such as the Epl or the M-19 – began just before the failed Caguán peace process came to an end.
This fact gave rise to the modernization of the Military Forces through Plan Colombia. With their resources, they were strengthened in technology, weapons and more men, who ultimately gave the most forceful blows to the Farc. Thus fell ‘Raúl Reyes’, ‘Alfonso Cano’ and ‘Jorge Briceño Suárez’, among others.
These coups not only weakened the guerrillas militarily, but also affected the morale of the troops, and would partly explain why, of the total number of people who left the armed groups, 19,929 former members of the FARC-EP did so individually. according to the latest accountability report from the Agency for Reincorporation and Standardization (ARN).
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The largest group that followed that same path is made up of 36,376 former combatants of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Auc), in the government of Álvaro Uribe; and 13,394 of the Farc-Ep that accepted the peace agreement in the government of Juan Manuel Santos.
Another 4,911 are ex-combatants of the National Liberation Army (ELN), who have done it individually, and the remaining 581 belong to other groups.
Although all these people are usually included in a single block, there are differences in the processes that each one of them undertakes. What they do have in common is that the ARN has been accompanying, advising and guiding them in their goals and projects since 2003.
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This occurs through different processes. The first is reintegration, which is aimed at people who have demobilized individually or collectively from paramilitary or guerrilla groups. Today there are around 25,000 in reintegration who have completed their transition to civil life. Of these, eight out of ten remain in the law, according to the ARN.
The second process is known as special reintegration. Unlike the previous one, this It is aimed at demobilized applicants for Justice and PeaceIn other words, ex-combatants from the AUC who, after serving a prison sentence, provide truth, justice and reparation and promote non-repetition. About a thousand are in this process.
The third group focuses on people who laid down their arms and transitioned to legality from the peace process of the government of Juan Manuel Santos. There are a little more than 13,000 ex-guerrillas with whom a political agreement was made for a collective process of reincorporation and to provide them with social and economic guarantees and the opportunity to build a new life project.
In order for a person to complete the reintegration, special reintegration and reincorporation processes, they must travel a gradual path. This gradual path has been undertaken by 64,342 men and 11,389 women. Of 61,653 demobilized, 52,352 entered the reintegration process. In 2019, 852 completed it successfully, of these, 73 percent have training for work and 4,951 are accompanied on the Reintegration Route.
In addition, at the end of 2019, 17,088 ex-combatants in the reintegration process had been linked to employment and 7,715 carried out more than one training action in the Sena, in private companies and labor training institutions.
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Regarding reincorporation, 13,202 signatories of the peace agreement with the FARC are accredited by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace. As of 2019, 869 productive projects were approved and 27 collectives, for the benefit of a total of 2,160 people.
These projects are varied: agricultural, commercial and tourist, such as the production of cosmetics, export coffee, handicrafts and tourism in former Farc areas. Others are part of humanitarian demining programs and some are linked as bodyguards to the National Protection Unit (UNP), or have been trained as natural park guards.
To date, due to the murders of demobilized persons, 142 people are deprived of their liberty, and 257 more are linked to the investigations
For its execution, resources are available from the national budget and international cooperation. Presidential advisor Emilio Archila announced that in 2021, Colombia will have 56,000 million dollars from the European Union to advance with the reincorporation.
However, the process has not been without setbacks and scandals, one of them being the false demobilizations, such as that of the ‘Cacique Nutibara’ of the Auc in November 2003. Regarding this episode, the former paramilitary chief Freddy Rendón Herrera , the ‘Alemán’, admitted before a Court of Justice and Peace that it had been a setup to give political benefits to the heads of the ‘Envigado office’. Several of the 855 alleged ‘paramilitaries’ even admitted that they were picked up shortly before in popular neighborhoods and that they were offered money and even had their criminal records erased.
But Today there is a bigger problem, the murder of demobilized members of the Farc. To date, 237 have died since the peace agreement was signed, a fact that prompted a caravan of exFarc to travel from Meta to Bogotá in the so-called ‘Pilgrimage for life and peace’ to make this problem visible.
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This is not a minor problem, so much so that President Iván Duque met with them and revalidated the commitments previously agreed by the counselor Emilio Archila, not only to give them greater security, but also to continue with the process. “I am playing with reincorporation,” Duque told the leaders of the ‘Pilgrimage’ in his meeting with them.
On Wednesday, the High Commissioner for Peace, Miguel Ceballos, revealed that, to date, due to the murders of demobilized persons, 142 people are deprived of their liberty, and 257 more are linked to the investigations. 53 arrest warrants have been issued against determinants (masterminds) and of those 10 have been made effective. The judges have issued 36 convictions for 39 cases.
The National Government and the authorities attribute the authorship of these crimes to the dissidents of the Farc, the Eln and criminal gangs such as the “Gulf Clan”, who dispute the territories and drug trafficking routes that the Farc previously controlled.
Taken together, these groups all number about 14,000 men. This represents another enormous challenge for the Colombian State, to get more people out of the war so as not to reach again the 75,000 who have already laid down their arms in the last 20 years.
Last July, the Government issued Decree 965, which opened the door to individual submission to justice to members of criminal gangs such as the FARC dissidents, ‘the Rastrojos’, the’ Gulf clan ‘and’ the Caparros’, but the results are not yet known.
‘We have a challenge as a society’: Andrés Stapper, director of the ARN
How long does the reinstatement process take?
There is no time limit, but, through each component, it is expected that they can strengthen capacities and have opportunities to develop their life projects like any citizen.
What has been the hardest thing to overcome for these people?
The will on their part exists. So more than talking about “difficult to overcome for them”, it is pertinent to say that the greatest challenge that exists is as a society; to understand that peacebuilding in Colombia is an exercise that we must carry out among all actors, and this includes citizens; stop stigmatization and normalize opportunities for those who bet to build a new life project from the legality.
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What do you do today?
To give some figures, of the more than 13,000 ex-FARC (from the peace agreement), 4,946 developed a business idea: agriculture, clothing, livestock, tourism, service, beer, among many others. Not only do they generate income for them, but they start to boost the economy.
Are there cases of desertion?
Yes, however, the level of optimism regarding the process is significant. 77 percent have expressed feeling optimistic about the future, 3 voluntarily resigned, 174 hope to resolve their legal situation and 16 had to close their process due to legal issues.
CARLOS CAMACHO
POLITICAL WRITING
