Colombian Peace Talks Move to FARC's Political Participation
Years of war in Colombia have established a political economy based
on conflict and contributed to institutional erosion and the
consolidation of anti-democratic practices undermining good governance.
The deterioration of the democratic principles of the 1991 Constitution
began under the administration of Cesar Gaviria (1990 to 1994) and only
worsened under the administration of Alvaro Uribe between 2002 and 2010.
Over the last decades, the dominant classes and the traditional
political parties have managed to erode the democratic aspects of the
constitution by incrementally circumscribing the independence of the
judiciary and diminishing legislative power while increasing
presidential authority and the autonomy and power of the security
apparatus of the state. This has happened against the backdrop of the
increasing influence of narcotrafficking political organizations (ie.
the paramilitaries) over state institutions. Consequently, Uribe's
amendment to the 1991 constitution that allowed him a second
presidential term and his attempt at a further amendment to allow a
third term was only part of a larger trend of dominant coalitions
attempting to control the political process. The democratic content of
the Constitution has diminished with the 37 changes made since 1991.
Against this extremely brief background, the second round of negotiation between representatives of the Juan Manuel Santos government and delegates of the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) began on June 11 in order to address political reform. The FARC representatives are calling for a constituent assembly not only to reverse the institutional degradation that has occurred since 1991, but also to codify a new socioeconomic, political, and judicial order they hope will emerge from the peace accord. The FARC is aspiring to restructure political institutions in order to limit presidential power and strengthen instruments of representational democracy—primarily the legislature, as well as through the popular elections of the attorney general, public prosecutor, and treasurer.
Because the Santos government has resisted the idea of invoking a constituent assembly, the FARC has a very long road to go in creating critical popular support that may usher in a new phase in the country’s troubled history and struggling electoral democracy.
Nazih Richani is the Director of Latin American studies at Kean University. He blogs at nacla.org/blog/cuadernos-colombianos.
Source: http://nacla.org/blog/2013/6/21/colombian-peace-talks-move-farcs-political-participation
Against this extremely brief background, the second round of negotiation between representatives of the Juan Manuel Santos government and delegates of the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) began on June 11 in order to address political reform. The FARC representatives are calling for a constituent assembly not only to reverse the institutional degradation that has occurred since 1991, but also to codify a new socioeconomic, political, and judicial order they hope will emerge from the peace accord. The FARC is aspiring to restructure political institutions in order to limit presidential power and strengthen instruments of representational democracy—primarily the legislature, as well as through the popular elections of the attorney general, public prosecutor, and treasurer.
Because the Santos government has resisted the idea of invoking a constituent assembly, the FARC has a very long road to go in creating critical popular support that may usher in a new phase in the country’s troubled history and struggling electoral democracy.
Nazih Richani is the Director of Latin American studies at Kean University. He blogs at nacla.org/blog/cuadernos-colombianos.
Source: http://nacla.org/blog/2013/6/21/colombian-peace-talks-move-farcs-political-participation
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