Between the Sword and the Wall : The Santos Peace Negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

Chronicles the peace process negotiations between Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos and the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. In Between the Sword and the Wall: The Santos Peace Negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Harvey Kline, a noted expert on contemporary Colombian politics, brings to a close his multivolume chronicle of the incessant violence that has devastated Colombia's population, politics, and military for decades. This, his newest work on the subject, recounts and analyzes the negotiations between Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos and the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which ended with a peace agreement in 2016. The FARC insurgency began in 1964, and every Colombian president after 1980 unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a peace agreement with the group. Kline analyzes how the Santos administration was ultimately able to negotiate peace with the FARC. The agreement failed to receive the approval of the Colombian people in an October 2016 plebiscite, but a renegotiated version was later approved by the congress in the same year. Afterward, more than 7,000 rebels turned over their weapons to the UN mission in Colombia. The former combatants were then to be judged by a special court empowered to punish but not imprison those who had violated human rights. Throughout the book, Kline emphasizes the dual nature of the Santos negotiations, first with the FARC and second with the democratic opposition to the agreement led by former president Álvaro Uribe VÉlez. Kline provides readers with a well-researched analysis based on a variety of resources, including media articles and primary documents from the government, international organizations, and the FARC. He also conducted extensive interviews with twenty-eight government officials and Colombian experts from all ideological persuasions. Que savons nous des animaux ? Quand sont-ils apparus sur Terre ? Notre défiance à leur égard ne met-elle pas en péril l'avenir de l'humanité ? Quel regard devons-nous porter et transmettre aux générations futures concernant la cause animale ? Notre histoire semble intimement liée à celle des animaux. Alors que ces derniers se sont toujours passés des humains, nous sommes incapables de vivre sans eux. Depuis des millénaires nous leurs sommes redevables de notre nourriture, de nos vêtements, de nos outils et de notre développement. Leur domestication va autant bouleverser leur vie que la nôtre. Trop longtemps considérés comme de vulgaires machines-outils, nous avons négligé leur sensibilité sans vraiment tenter de communiquer avec eux. Il faudra attendre le XXème siècle pour que l'on s'intéresse à leur comportement, à leur souffrance et à leur bien-être. Nous avons aussi découvert à nos dépens qu'ils étaient de véritables réservoirs parasitaires, bactériens ou viraux, capables de nous transmettre des maladies à l'origine d'épidémies dévastatrices au cours de notre Histoire. Aujourd'hui certains moustiques sont encore responsables de plus d'un million de décès chaque année, mais sont-ils les vrais coupables de leur multiplication à outrance ? Si certaines espèces peuvent devenir invasives et menacer la biodiversité du fait de conditions climatiques devenues inappropriées à leur développement, la plupart des espèces animales sont partout menacées de disparition par l'Homme. L'HOMME, devenue l'espèce qui menace toutes les autres. Nous vous invitons à plonger dans ce monde animal qui nous fascine depuis l'enfance à travers les mythes, les contes et les légendes. Donnons lui aujourd'hui la place qu'il mérite sur notre planète, il n'est pas trop tard pour partager notre territoire avec cet ami et redéfinir les conditions d'équilibre à notre survie commune Dedication Epigraph Contents List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction Part One: Historical Background of Colombia before 2010 1 Political Patterns before 2002: The Context of Government Decision Making before the Administration of President Álvaro Uribe 2 Changes in the Balance of Power during the Administration of President Álvaro Uribe Part Two: The Santos Negotiations 3 The Beginning of the Negotiations and the First Three Agreements: August 2010 to March 2014 4 Victims and Justice: June 2014 to September 2015 5 The Final Negotiations: March to August 2016 Part Three: The Plebiscite and the New Final Agreement 6 The Debate about the Peace Agreement and the Plebiscite 7 The Renegotiations and the Second Final Agreement Part Four: Conclusions 8 The Reasons an Agreement with the FARC Was Reached 9 Conclusions about the Implementation of the Agreement Appendix 1. Participants in the Peace Process Appendix 2. Chronology of the Peace Agreement Notes Selected Bibliography Index Political patterns before 2002 : the context of government decision making before the administration of President Álvaro Uribe -- Changes in the balance of power during the administration of President Álvaro Uribe -- The beginning of the negotiations and the first three agreements : August 2010 to March 2014 -- Victims and justice : June 2014 to September 2015 -- The final negotiations : March to August 2016 -- The debate about the peace agreement and the plebiscite -- The renegotiations and the second final agreement -- The reasons an agreement with the FARC was reached -- Tentative conclusions about the implementation of the agreement