A surprising insistence

From
Havana                                                                            Read Spanish Version

A
surprising insistence

By
Manuel Alberto Ramy

In
what could be described as an unexpected insistence — though
intelligent and beneficial for Colombian society and the region,
because of its pacifist nature — Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
last Sunday issued a surprising call to the new chief of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

"The
time has come for the FARC to release all the people they have up
there on the mountain. It would be a great humanitarian gesture, in
exchange for nothing. That’s how I propose it, now that there is a
new chief in charge of the FARC secretariat. That would be the first
step toward ending the domestic war in Colombia," he said.

The
call from the Venezuelan president did not end there. He added that
guerrilla war, as a means to achieve power and generate beneficial
changes, no longer corresponds with the current situation in Latin
America.

"It
is necessary to tell this to the FARC. That’s want I wanted to tell
Marulanda. I told him so publicly, at the end. Several times. I never
wrote to him. Now I tell Alfonso Cano [the FARC’s new leader] that
they should release all those people. There are women, old people,
sick people, soldiers who have spent as long as 10 years there.
Enough! The time has come, Cano, I believe it. Guerrilla warfare
passed into history."

A
180-degree turn of the wheel? No. On several occasions, Chávez
has stated publicly that the Colombian conflict has no military
solution, a concept that most analysts agree with, except for those
who are interested in preserving the flow of rivers of blood and some
four million displaced persons, just so they can benefit from a firm
outpost on South American soil.

The
president’s request — no doubt realistic and very well received by
the Colombian society after 50 years of civil war — has among its
merits the removal of political justifications by Washington’s policy
toward the region. According to Chávez, those justifications
"are the perfect excuse. The day peace comes to Colombia, the
empire loses its excuse — terrorism, as it calls it."

Of
course, Bush’s Washington (and nobody knows what policy his successor
will enact) has more than enough excuses to act in our region. An
empire is always an empire.

But
Chávez’s call also impacts in the depths of the Colombian
jungle, where the FARC leadership resides. To ignore this request,
made by the man who carries the flag of change in the southern
hemisphere, could mean greater isolation for the FARC guerrillas.

If
common sense prevails, Colombian society would be the great
beneficiary. However, the political picture — where the government
has been deeply hurt by the scandal of narco-para-politics — could
be strongly impacted because Chávez’s proposal is consistent
with his previous pronouncements that link the release of hostages
with a dialogue toward peace. That need has been acknowledged by most
of the citizens and has international support. A release of hostages
without an ensuing political negotiation would be like slipping a
commercial in the middle of a war movie: kisses and hugs among the
reunited families and then back to the shootings and new kidnappings.
A real, harsh, terrible and never-ending saga.

So
we stand before a humanitarian and extremely rational proposal, an
objective plan that will benefit everyone, because it focuses on the
interests of Colombians, with a sharp vision of the geopolitics of
South America.

Inside
Colombia, a rejection of the integral vision of the solution to the
conflict could (I am prudent here) alter the correlation of forces
and turn opinion against the government. Let me clarify this. It is
not a question of the former guerrillas seizing power; it is that the
progressive forces that act within the law have political parties and
hold positions in Parliament and regional and local governments. They
would gain much social support and, consequently, political power.

On
the other hand, Chávez’s call resonates loudly, because
everyone in the South American region and elsewhere — except for the
Bush administration — desire a peaceful solution. Colombia is a
power keg that could cause secondary blasts. There have been enough
tense moments.

So,
yes, an unexpected insistence, but all for the sake of peace.

Manuel
Alberto Ramy is Havana bureau chief for Radio Progreso Alternativa
and editor of Progreso Semanal, the Spanish-language version of
Progreso Weekly.