The Washington Office on Latin America, the Center for International Policy, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, Global Rights, the United Steelworkers Union, the United States Office on Colombia, the Mennonite Central Committee, and Peace Brigades International invite you to
The Colombian Peace Talks
Perspectives from Civil Society
Featuring:
Danilo Rueda
Human Rights Defender, Inter-Ecclesial Commission for Justice and Peace and Colombiano/as por la Paz
Franklin Castañeda
Director, Political Prisoner Solidarity Committee (FSCPP)
Marco Romero
President, Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES)
Diego Martinez
Executive Secretary, Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights
Olga Amparo Sanchez
Director, Casa de la Mujer and Colombiano/as por la Paz
Ricardo Pinzon
Director, Mencoldes Foundation
And others
Thursday, November 1, 2012
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Washington Office on Latin America
1666 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009
On October 18, historic peace talks between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government—the first formal negotiations in a decade—began in Oslo, Norway. The talks seek to end Latin America’s longest armed conflict, a conflict that has created the world’s largest internally displaced population and has taken hundreds of thousands of lives. Supported by a broad coalition of foreign governments, multilateral organizations, and civil society, the negotiations will address the longstanding issues of rural development, political participation of former FARC forces, an end to the conflict, illicit drugs production and trafficking, and justice for victims of the conflict.
As the talks move to their permanent location in Havana, Cuba, on November 19, what can we expect? Members of Colombia’s civil society presented their perspectives on the prospects and pitfalls for peace and the human rights issues that should be addressed during and after negotiations and will offer first-hand analyses of the talks’ five central themes. The video is only available in Spanish.