"The Peace Process and the Public Hearings," from FARC publication Resistencia 25, February 2001

"The Peace Process and the Public Hearings," from FARC publication Resistencia 25, February 2001

The Peace Process and the Public Hearings

President Andrés Pastrana advanced his election campaign with his commitment to create conditions for constructing peace. Together with the FARC-EP, he undertook to guarantee the security of the parties in the pursuit of building a New Colombia.

On January 7, 1999, after overcoming a series of obstacles, the dialogues were begun in San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá.

In this new stage we have made important achievements, a result of the growing struggle of the Colombian people. They include the demilitarization of five municipalities for the talks, the signing of the Common Agenda for Change Toward a New Colombia, the formation of the National Issues Commission with representatives from both sides to organize Public Hearings, as mechanism for democratic participation of all sectors of the country, and the holding of 25 public hearings.

The first issue discussed by the National Dialogues Table was "Economic Growth and Job Creation. It was decided the subject of the debates would be the proposals of Colombians at the public hearings, so the spokespersons would not be conversing in a vacuum.

More than 20,000 compatriots have come to Villa Nueva Colombia, overcoming endless economic and transportation difficulties, crossing the whole country on deplorable roads, and conquering the fear of being labelled as subversives for daring to go to the demilitarized zone. No doubt participation would have been greater if it had not also been necessary to face the pressures from the media, which during the entire process has been dedicated to implanting fear in the people, presenting the FARC-EP and the demilitarized zone as dangerous. The final impression of those who have travelled to San Vicente del Caguán has been entirely different, but, in any case, the damage has already been done for the rest of the nation.

The Public Hearings have been of two kinds: the "ordinary" hearings in which all those registered participate individually, and the special hearings, called by sector.

Hearings have been held with Afro-Colombians, women, youth, the country's strategic economic sectors, the education sector, the health sector, credit users and the victims of the current housing system, informal workers, community action councils, and peasant producers of illicit crops. The latter participated in the International Hearing, convoked by the National Dialogue Table, so their viewpoint and solutions to the problems could be heard before a delegation of 21 invited countries and the Vatican.

Everyone arrives with their proposals and their pain, convinced that this is the only space open to the Colombian people, where they are finally heard. This is because each person is a direct victim of the crisis in Colombia and, as such, they have not only the right but also the obligation to participate in the process of change.

More than 20,000 Colombians have come to San Vicente del Caguán and gone home in love with the reality they found there. We speak the same language; have the same interests, feelings and desires, because we are the Colombian people. We, FARC-EP, are proud to see how our proposals and vision of the country coincide with those of the Colombians who have participated in these Public Hearings. This is a situation the media, as a real sounding box of the ruling class, wants to ignore as they attempt to portray for the country and the world a guerrilla movement bereft of proposals.

We have heard voices raised against the economic policies adopted by the national government, voices in favor of sovereignty, and affirming the need for us to solve our own problems, voices in defense of human rights. The various sectors have said NO to war and YES to peace - a peace with health care, housing, education and democracy. We all know the economic, social, political and cultural conflict we are going through requires the construction of a new state, a New Colombia.

The Issues Committee collects and organizes all the speeches given at the hearings, and prepares a report containing the diagnosis as well as the proposals of each participant. To facilitate the discussion at the National Dialogue Table, the committee provides it with this document, with the proposals of Colombians, taking into account the main issues considered.

The process has come this far; now the National Dialogue Table must begin discussion of the first issue and present the country with the short, medium and long-term measures to confront unemployment. This would be the true demonstration of the government's will to achieve peace. It would show Colombians that the country's alternative is not war.

In this respect, the quarrelsome and procrastinating attitude of the national government is highly suspicious. It is precisely when we must accord radical revisions to its policies of privatization, economic "opening," labor flexibility, mass layoffs and tax increases, that it has sought the most pretexts for breaking off the talks.

As of April 21, 2001, this document was also available online at http://www.farc-ep.org/pagina_ingles/Resistencia25/Html/proceso.html