News and AnalysIs for

The peace process in Colombia awaits a crucial date on Saturday, May 25, when the 9th round of peace talks is scheduled to draw to a close, and according to local paper El Tiempo the issue of land rights should take center stage as a make or break item in the ongoing process. According to the report, a proposed agreement over land rights, and its success or failure, is likely to be revealed this coming Sunday.

A Sunday bombing of the San Miguel-Orito Pipeline in the Putumayo department, forced authorities to suspend the pipeline’s use, in an attack that Ecopetrol says comes from the Farc.

Colombian oil producer THX has denied any relationship to a man suspected of links  to the Colombian underworld, Gabriel Ricardo Morales Fallón, who allegedly coordinated the use of a company plane for Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla.

Counts were down very slightly to 40 above recent and long-term averages. This was a below average week for guerrilla-initiated activities but since there was a pipeline attack, the week was hardly tranquil. Our 4-week Moving Average incident count was up to 37.0 incidents and the 52 week average was up to 37.7 incidents per week.

Not normally do two public figures tend to share headlines, but this week the peace talks in Colombia received the attention of both former US President Bill Clinton and the newly anointed Pope Francis, who both expressed their support to the peace process to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in separate instances.

Counts were up significantly to 41 considerably above recent and long-term averages. This was an average week for non-Armed Forces i.e. guerrilla-initiated events which means both guerrilla and Armed Forces activities were up. Our 4-week Moving Average incident count was up to 34.5 incidents and the 52 week average was up to 37.5 incidents per week.

The eighth round of peace talks ended last week in Havana. Representatives of the government and the FARC issued a joint statement that outlined the progress of the process. The official statement highlighted progress but, as usual, the un-official communications undo what gets accomplished at the negotiating table.

Counts were down to 32 which 10% above the recent average and just slightly below the long term average. Our 4-week Moving Average incident count was down slightly at 33.5 incidents but the 52 week average was up marginally to 37.1 incidents per week.

This week the forum on political participation organized by the United Nations Office on Colombia and the Colombian National University Think Tank for Peace took place. The purpose of the forum was to create a space for participation in which citizens were invited to express their views on the peace process.

In an interview with Portafolio, Fernando Gutierrez, Bicentennial pipeline manager, said that after two years of construction, the pipeline will be operational in July this year and will be filled with 1.2M oil barrels; according to Gutierrez: “This is more than the production of a day. It is the largest pipe that has been made in the country.”