The Beginning of the Transformation of the FARC into a Political Party

By Katu Arkonada on August 28, 2017

After being a clandestine organization since their creation in 1964, in response to repression in the Marquetalia region, the anthem of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) was heard in the center of Bogotá for the first time.

Hundreds of former guerrillas of the FARC sang along. “Guerrillas of the FARC / with the people until victory / for Motherland, Bread and Land / Guerrillas of the FARC / The voice of unity / Until liberty”, says the main phrase. This anthem was then followed by the national anthem of Colombia.

In a symbolic act, the first one to speak was Pablo Beltrán, Commander and Chief of the peace delegation of the National Liberation Army (ELN) the other large guerilla organization in the country. Through a video conference, Beltrán welcomed the FARC’s new party and highlighted the need for militancy in difficult times. In this first day of the FARC’s Congress there were also many references to the need to implement a ceasefire and carry on with the peace process between the ELN and the Colombian government.

After that all of the delegates of the Congress were welcomed by their commander in chief, Rodrigo Londoño, better known as Timoleón “Timochenko” Jiménez, who recognized the Congress which will give birth to a new party that will have a crucial role in Colombian politics

“Once war is over, it’s time to build peace, but without renouncing the FARC’s ideals of what a society should be like, one which promotes the wellbeing of the people, with respect for human rights and social justice”, Jimenez said.

The most important words spoken during this foundational day came from Commander Iván Márquez, chief of the peace delegation of the FARC-EP during the Havana dialogues that culminated with the historic agreement between the FARC and the Colombian state.

After recalling past negotiations that didn’t come to fruition, like the ones carried out during the presidency of Uribe, or the ones held in Tlaxcala, Caguán or Caracas, he analyzed the current moment of the peace process in Colombia. Márquez admitted that the state of peace that has been achieved is not perfect, because it is a negotiated peace, based on (often frail) agreements, but this state of peace must be the starting point of a process to better living and wellbeing for the majorities.

However hopeful, there was no place for triumphalism in the intervention of the former guerrilla’s negotiator in chief. In a comment directed at the government of Colombia, he quoted the latin expression “pacta sunt servanda” “agreements must be kept”—a reference to the lack of fulfillment of the government’s side of the agreements so far. Márquez underlined the patent inability of the government that yields to external pressure and doesn’t fully control the mechanisms of the state that should guarantee the fulfillment of the agreements.

Regarding the agreements, special emphasis was placed on the FARC’s reincorporation to political life after the end of the cycle of armed struggle, but they left clear that the issue of reincorporation to civilian life can’t be exclusively left in the hands of the State.

One part of the agreements that hasn’t been fulfilled is amnesty for guerrillas. Although hundreds of imprisoned members of the FARC have been released, the release of each and every one of the political prisoners is a crucial matter for the FARC.

Many speakers gave homage to Simón Trinidad, commander of the Caribe Block, who was extradited by Álvaro Uribe to the United States as part of a government set-up that tried to link the FARC to drug trafficking. Trinidad is currently remains imprisoned in the United States, despite a request for him to be a part of the negotiating team during the Havana peace negotiations.

There was also time during this inaugural event to look towards the future, to define some of the lines of work that will be debated by the more than 1,000 delegates over the next three days of closed-door sessions of the FARC’s Congress.

Márquez read the central report to the Congress, which proposed three main points of discussion. The first one is the expansion towards the urban context—to cease being a predominantly a rural organization in order to start growing an expansive projection towards the urban centers of the country. To become a party rooted in the city, which focuses on alternative economy.

In the second point, regarding the nature of the new political organization, the report proposes to create a party-movement—overcoming the false dichotomy between a party of cadres and a party of masses. The final definition will be provided by the new organization’s praxis itself, but there’s a clear commitment to build an organization that joins—and not necessarily leads—real struggles across Colombia.

Finally, in view of the upcoming presidential elections to be held in May 2018, the report was unambiguous. The new party of the FARC-EP will promote a political coalition to create an imbalance of power in favor of the forces that stands for peace.

The final message read by Marquez was the need for unity—following the lines of the ideological leaders of the FARC-EP – Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas, and also Simón Bolívar, he said: “United we will be strong and deserve respect, divided and isolated we will fall”.

http://www.thedawn-news.org/2017/08/29/colombia-the-beginning-of-the-transformation-of-the-farc-into-a-political-party/

Source: La Jornada