Colombian Villagers Challenge Efficacy of 2016 Peace Treaty

Since the end of the conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC, new drug kingpins have come to power in rural Colombia. Villagers in the region of Cabeceras and Carrá have reported family members shot and killed by new, anonymous groups. This reality is a far cry from the peace the citizens were promised two years ago.

Immediately after President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Timochenko signed the historic peace treaty in November 2016, many Colombians were relieved. The treaty marked the end of the longest-running conflict on the continent, one which had left over 200,000 dead and nearly 6 million displaced. Some citizens described the accord as “the start of the construction of peace.”

Recent statistics, however, paint a bleaker picture. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), cocaine cultivation in Colombia reached a record high in 2017, rising 17 perent from the previous year. European officials have posited that the increased availability of cocaine in Europe is directly correlated with the increased production in Colombia.

Those most victimized, however, are the Afro-Colombian citizens of the villages of Cabeceras and Carrá who were forced to flee their homes after a series of killings shook their communities. Some have mentioned that their children are being bribed by paramilitaries to carry out killings in exchange for 100,000 pesos—the equivalent of around 36 dollars.

Ernesto Chililiano’s daughter was killed by the FARC in 2011. Forced to flee his village with his family after a bombing raid exploded near his home, Chililiano stated that the peace accord did nothing except replace one guerrilla faction with another.

Another displaced resident, Flavio Pivaza Opua, has sent a message to cocaine buyers in the United States and Britain: “Be careful. Lives are worth more than a few hundred dollars.”