El difícil camino de la paz. Avatares de la implementación de los acuerdos Farc-Ep y gobierno colombiano en Icononzo (Tolima)

Resumen: Con la firma del Acuerdo Final para la Terminación del Conflicto y la Construcción de una Paz Estable y Duradera entre el Gobierno colombiano y la guerrilla de las FARC-EP, en noviembre de 2016, se establecieron una serie de acuerdos sobre diferentes puntos, entre ellos el establecimiento de unas zonas de concentración en varias regiones del país, en las cuales los excombatientes harían su tránsito a la vida civil. Para entender las dinámicas de lo sucedido en este importante proceso, se analiza el caso del espacio territorial de capacitación y reincorporación (ETCR) Antonio Nariño, en Icononzo (Tolima), el más cercano a Bogotá. Luego de un trabajo de campo de dos años, en el que se realizaron entrevistas con los habitantes de la región de Sumapaz, lo mismo que con quienes están alrededor del proceso, se plantea una perspectiva de análisis de corte etnográfico sobre el tema. Esto como paradigma de lo sucedido en el país, concretamente en el Sumapaz, una región en la cual tanto la guerra como la paz se han vivido desde hace más de setenta años, buscando aportar a la comprensión del conflicto armado interno en Colombia. The Difficult Course to Peace. Avatars of the Implementation of the Farc - Colombian Government Peace Accords in Icononzo (Tolima) Abstract: With the signing of the Peace Accords between the Colombian government and the Farc-Ep guerrilla in 2016, concentration zones were established in various regions of the country, in which ex-combatants would make their transition to civilian life. To understand the dynamics of what happened in this important process, the case of the ETCR Antonio Nariño in Icononzo (Tolima), the closest to Bogotá, is analyzed. As part of a two-year fieldwork, in which I conducted multiple interviews with the habitants of the Sumapaz region, as well as with those around the process, I propose a ethnographical analysis to this question. Such approach is proposed as a case study to understand the challenges provoked with the implementation of the peace accords in Colombia. In so doing, this chapter seeks to contribute to the understanding the internal armed conflict in this country while contextualizing such analysis in a region in which both war and peace have been lived for more than seventy years. Keywords: Colombia, Peace Accords, Internal Armed Conflict, Government-Farc, Sumapaz.

Global and Intercultural Leadership

Since the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) gave up the guns and launched a political party, it is time to implement the peace agreements including the different sectors of society and ethnic groups that historically have been excluded and marginalized. This chapter focuses on Afro-Colombian communities and their past and present social movements and leadership projects, and identifies the characteristics and perspectives of a leadership process that will implement the peace accords in a more comprehensive and sustainable way. Finally, the author suggests a global and intercultural leadership perspective to implement the peace agreements in Colombia because it will emphasize on relationships and value other cultures, facilitate platforms to include the narratives and leadership approaches of different worldviews, and put the focus on an intercultural dialogue and communication that will transform objective and subjective structures of society.

Cultural heritage wars may affect Israeli-Arab ties

Significance The ‘Abraham Peace Accords’ between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and between Israel and Bahrain, were signed in September, after being brokered by the US Trump administration. Deals with Sudan and Morocco have since followed. Impacts Palestinian complaints will become more pointed as other Arab-Israeli ties strengthen and tourism increases. The Biden administration could engage in more scrutiny of right-wing Israeli claims, especially over the West Bank settlements. As right-wing politicians entrench their dominance, archaeological finds will drive more nationalistic interpretations of the past.

Peace in Colombia, at any cost?!

Our purpose is to demonstrate: why it is important to maintain citizen faith in their justice institutions. Peace accords cannot be associated with a weakening of criminal justice. Hence the research question: how to strengthen Colombian justice in the peace accords? Colombia is not a failed state forced to sign any peace agreement. The research observes that Colombia is a democratic state with weak public values. This forces us to look for new models of participation: more plural and democratic.

Revolution and the Cristeros

During Mexico’s Cristero War (1926–1929), when Mexican Catholic rebels took up arms to overthrow the anticlerical government of President Plutarco Elías Calles (1924–1928). After almost three years of fighting, the war formally ended with peace accords between the Catholic hierarchy and the State in June 1929. To understand the Cristero War, however, it is necessary to focus on more than just the three-year period during which the war was fought. Indeed, it was a conflict with deep historical antecedents. Furthermore, after the peace accords it did not completely disappear, but rather persisted and mutated. Additionally, it became a transnational conflict by attracting the attention and participation of migrants; and finally, it has recently been revived as a contemporary issue for Catholics across the globe.

Perception of effective access to health services in Territorial Spaces for Training and Reincorporation, one year after the peace accords in Colombia: a cross-sectional study

Backgrounds: The signing of the peace accords in Colombia created challenges that are inherent to post-conflict transitions. One of those is the process of reintegrating ex-combatants into society, in which ensuring their rights to health is a particularly significant challenge in rural areas affected by armed conflict. These areas, known as Territorial Spaces for Training and ReintegrationReincorporation (ETCR, in Spanish), are geographically dispersed throughout 24 municipalities and 13 departments in Colombia. This study aimed to describe how ex-combatants in ETCR regions perceived access to health services one year after the signing of the peace accords. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed between September and October 2018. It included 591 adults and their families, from 23 ETCRs. The study was designed, culturally validated, and piloted. Interviewers were trained and a structured survey was administered containing five dimensions that characterized the perception of effective access to health services. Results: The majority of interviewees were women, heads of household, young adults, ex-combatants, and residents in an ETCR. In total of 96.4% were enrolled in Colombia’s subsidized health system, and 20.8% indicated that a member of their household required emergency health services. The regional health center provided the majority of the services. Most of those surveyed (96.0%) reported that they did not have to pay for the services, and that they received respectful (91.6%) and good quality (66.6%) care. There were few referrals to disease prevention and health promotion activities, and only 19.0% of households reported having been visited by extramural health care teams, whose activities were highly valued (80%). Lastly, there was little knowledge about community health activities. Conclusions: While residents of ETCR regions have a favorable perception of their access to health services, they need to be made aware of extramural and public health activities.

Leadership Amidst Transition and Liminality: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslavia

A history of empires and communism created a liminality in the former Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). When leaders throughout the Soviet Bloc began to discredit communism, an opportunity opened for the leadership of B&H to unify the popular will and transition to democracy. Yet, the appropriate leadership, a master of ceremonies from van Gennep and Turner’s perspectives, a philosopher from Plato’s view was absent. Politicians instead repackaged themselves as nationalists and supported extremists and divisive actions, culminating in war. Subsequently, the mechanisms associated with the Dayton Peace Accords conceived to return B&H to normalcy instead made the divisive liminality a new normal as power sharing elites benefitted if they held to nationalist claims and ignored societal reintegration. This, study examines the reasoning and tactics of elites who rejected the mantle of good leadership and now abuse the spirit of the constitutional and institutional power sharing mechanisms to maintain the schizophrenic division and conflict. It also introduces the type of virtuous leader states needed for transition.

12. An Era of Negotiations, 1972–3

This chapter examines the negotiations pursued by the United States and the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. The most dramatic change in international diplomacy in the early 1970s was the rapprochement between Beijing and Washington. After two decades of enmity, it was announced on 15 July 1971 that Richard Nixon was to visit China. The ‘Opening to China’ was in accord with the Nixon–Kissinger hope of maintaining a favourable position vis-à-vis the Soviets despite America’s problems in Vietnam. The chapter first considers the so-called ‘triangular diplomacy’ involving the US, USSR, and China as well as the East Asian balance, before discussing the Moscow Summit and Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I). It concludes with an assessment of the Nixon administration’s Vietnam settlement in 1972–3 via the Paris peace accords.