Talking About Colombia

As if in sync with former ELN Commander Francisco Galán pleading with his former comrades to look for a negotiated end to Colombia’s violence, the historian and ex-member of the Communist Party, Medófilo Medina, posed some questions to the FARC’s head, Alfonso Cano:

•    What are the benefits, which this self-sacrificing struggle of three generations of men and women guerrillas, has brought to Colombia?

•    What groups of rural or urban workers have achieved durable social conquests due to the FARC during this last half a century?

Medina concluded, “the potential for transformation that the armed movements have been able to create in their long history will germinate only when they are able to be an effective part, and therefore credible, of a democratic movement for peace. Of course: The negotiated end to the conflict will not mean immediate changes, but without a doubt it will contribute to create conditions for people to fight (for changes) in a more effective political manner and humanely more constructive.”