UN Security Council to Analyze Wave of Violence in Colombia

On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will analyze the state of the peace process in Colombia due to the growing number of assassinations of social leaders and former guerilla fighters that have been recorded since Ivan Duque came to power in 2018.

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For the first time before this international forum, Duque will have to answer for the failure of his "Peace with Legality" policy, with which he was supposed to ensure compliance with the 2016 Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian State and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

“We have improved the lives of the armed conflict's victims by implementing policies to fight the illicit crops planting, poverty in rural areas, and guaranteeing the return to civilian life of former guerrilla fighters,” the Presidential Advisor for Stabilization Emilio Archila alleged.

Nevertheless, the Colombian Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) reported that at least 288 former FARC combatants have been murdered, and some 44,000 Colombians have been forced to displace from their territories due to armed violence during the Duque administration. 

United Nations (UN) Secretary Antonio Guterres has requested that the Colombian State increase its presence in rural areas, where paramilitary groups dedicated to drug trafficking and illegal mining activities operate.

Instead of adopting policies to guarantee citizen security in such territories, Duque has increased the military presence, which has increased disputes amongst armed groups.

“The President has to understand that violence cannot be counteracted with more violence. Only this way, he will manage to prevent our country from remaining stained in blood,” Indigenous leader Abimelec Macuyama stated.