by Eliza Davis and Michael Paczkowski,
Research Associates at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
On Sunday, June 14, 2015, the Colombian
military announced the death of prominent ELN commander José Amín
Hernández Manrique in the northern department of Antioquia.
The Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National
Liberation Army; ELN) is a left-wing guerilla movement, operating under
a Marxist platform with the aim of liberating Colombia. The death of
Manrique, also known as “Marquitos,” illustrates the rising tensions
between the Colombian government and its left-wing guerilla adversaries,
the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revoluationary
Armed Forces of Colombia; FARC) and the ELN. Colombia has been plagued
by widespread violence for more than 50 years, which has produced some
220,000 deaths and another 5 million refugees.
The Colombian government and the FARC,
the largest and oldest guerilla group in Colombia today, renewed peace
negotiation talks—the fourth such attempted in the past 30 years—in
December 2012 in Havana, Cuba. So far, the parties have agreed upon
three terms of agreement: land reform, political integration, and drug
trafficking. Consequentially, Bogotá and the FARC have yet to agree upon
the reparations for the conflict’s victims, the disarmament of the
rebel forces, and the methods of implementation once a finalized
agreement has been signed. While the ELN has had only a minimal presence
in the Havana negotiations, the FARC has repeatedly encouraged a
greater ELN participation in the discussion, facilitated by Bogotá’s
recent lift of the 182 arrest warrants against FARC Commander-in-Chief
Rodrigo Londono Echeverri.
[1]
Although the negotiations have made many
positive strides and remain ongoing, the recent violence presents as a
major obstacle with the potential to undermine such progress. On April
15, 2015, the FARC killed 11 Colombian soldiers, ending the uni-lateral
cease-fire.
[2]
Within the last few weeks, the Colombian military has killed 40 FARC
members, utilizing various methods ranging from airstrikes to convoy
raids. On May 25, 2015, the Colombian military killed FARC commander
Román Ruiz, along with four other FARC members. Days later, on May 28,
three members of both the Colombian military and the FARC were killed
the northeastern municipality of Araquita while on a joint de-mining
operation. On Friday, June 12, 2015, the FARC killed three Colombian
police officers and attacked a power plant, leaving 500,000 people
without power.
[3]
Negotiations remain ongoing, with the
FARC demanding bilateral cease-fire. The Colombian government has yet to
agree to a cease-fire, worried that it would give the FARC a chance to
recover from recent losses. Even so, President Juan Manuel Santos claims
that with the continuing violence, he remains committed to the
peacemaking process.
[4]
In response to criticism from his predecessor Álvaro Uribe, who
asserted that the peace effort should be postponed until the FARC ends
its violence, Santos stated, “Those who want to force me to end the
peace dialogue are also mistaken. I will persist, even, if that means
sacrificing all of my political capital.”
[5]
The recent death of ELN commander
Manrique reaffirms the continuing state of violence in Colombia not only
stemming from the FARC, but also the ELN and the Colombian military
itself.
The future of the peace negotiations remains unclear. It will
take resilience from both Bogotá and the FARC to ultimately reach an
agreement. The ELN will hopefully join the Havana negotiations in the
recent months. Without a peace agreement, violence will continue to
escalate and the dream of a peaceful nation will become less attainable.
Tomado de http://www.coha.org/eln-commander-manrique-dies-what-and-who-is-next/
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