Colombia needs to change drug policy to end internal violence, truth commission says
Colombian leaders must recognize how the drug trade has infiltrated the country’s culture, economy and politics and how the global war on drugs is fueling internal armed conflict such as how, Colombia’s truth commission said Tuesday in a long-awaited report.
The commission, established as part of a 2016 peace agreement between the government and now-discharged Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, called on the country to reassess the role of drugs in The internal conflict lasted nearly 60 years.
Among the committee’s recommendations are calls to make significant changes in drug policy, focus on regulation, and lead the global conversation about policy changes.
Other recommendations include promoting peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN), tackling corruption and ensuring quality of life and dignity for all communities.
President-elect Gustavo Petro attended the presentation and pledged to implement the recommendations.
“These recommendations will become the historical success of Colombia,” said Petro, a former member of the M-19 rebels, adding that the cycle of revenge must end.
Some wars continue
According to the truth commission, between 1985 and 2018, 450,664 people were killed in the conflict, while 55,770 were kidnapped between 1990 and 2018.
More than 7.7 million people were displaced between 1985 and 2019, and 121,768 people went missing between 1985 and 2016, according to the commission.
Despite the peace agreement that ended the FARC’s role in the conflict, fighting continued in some parts of Colombia between leftist rebels from the ELN and FARC fighters who rejected the agreement, as well as other rebels. criminal gangs and the military.
The commission has been given three years to investigate the truth about what happened in the armed conflict and provide a broad explanation of how the atrocities happened.
The more than 1,000-page report includes hours of testimony at private and public hearings, where perpetrators and victims both tell in often emotional stories.
The report said drug trafficking and the war on drugs contributed to the deterioration and prolongation of the conflict into an all-out war.
Colombia, a major exporter of cocaine, joined the war on drugs in the 1980s under US pressure and continues to face continued US pressure to eradicate coca, the main ingredient of cocaine. cocaine and tackle the drug trade, the report said.
Incumbent President Ivan Duque, whose term officially ends in August, did not attend.
