ASSESSMENTS

Is Time Running Out for the FARC Peace Deal?

Nov 8, 2017 | 10:03 GMT

A provision to grant amnesty to FARC commander Ivan Marques and other leaders of the demobilized militant group under the peace agreement with Colombia has drawn opposition, especially in large cities in the country

Ivan Marques, commander of FARC, attends a press conference in Bogota on Nov. 1, 2017. Currently, the landmark peace deal between FARC and the Colombian government rests on precarious ground.

(LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • The Colombian Congress is in the process of approving laws that would implement key provisions of the government's peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The risk that the deal will fail is still remote but could grow in 2018 if those laws are not approved by the end of this year.
  • Changes in the composition of Congress or the election of a president opposed to the deal could also complicate the peace agreement.
  • If the makeup of the legislature changes, or if the incoming president tries to challenge the deal, FARC leaders may be forced to choose between renewed negotiations or abandoning the agreement.

The next year could determine whether Colombian authorities have the political will or even the ability to fully implement the peace deal. The agreement was ushered in with the support of a president and legislative coalition friendly to it. However, the next Congress, which will be elected in March of next year, and the new president, who will come to power in August, may prove to be more hostile to the deal and oppose the steps needed to fully implement it. ...

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