It was 1 p.m. when the grenade exploded in the middle of a rooster fight.

An armed group then enters and shoots people in the building.

The September 20 attack in the city of Buenos Aires in southwestern Colombia left at least seven dead.

This is the sixtieth massacre to have occurred in the country in 2020.

It is on this murderous observation that Colombia is preparing to celebrate, Saturday, September 26, the fourth anniversary of the Havana peace agreement between the government and the Farc, then the oldest and most powerful guerrilla in activity. .

However, the promise of an end to the violence and the return of the state to the areas most affected by the conflict seem to be undermined by reality: at least 515 activists, 204 signatories of the pact and 44 of their relatives have been murdered. .

And, despite the efforts and millions invested in the fight against drug trafficking, Colombia continues to produce two-thirds of the cocaine that circulates in the world.

Mid-term, Iván Duque's government is accused by the opposition of hindering the smooth running of the agreements.

His party, the Democratic Center, opposed the referendum on the October 2016 peace agreement. The latter's victory resulted in changes to the texts and a second signature in November.

Under this right-wing government, other illegal armed groups and those that have been formed have managed to consolidate their hold on the territories, taking advantage in particular of the isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The armed struggle of certain groups continues

According to the United Nations Peace Accords Verification Mission, criminal organizations "have taken advantage of the quarantine to strengthen their control over strategic drug trafficking routes" and the power of these groups is such that in different places they put in place controls and attacked people, who did not follow their rules.

Jorge Restrepo, of the Secretariat for the Technical Verification of the Peace Accords, points out that, despite the reappearance of armed groups, the agreement aimed at pacifying the Farc remains a success: "This conflict is over. The violence has been reduced considerably compared to to what Colombia knew before the peace process. Asking the Accord to put an end to all conflicts is asking too much of it, "he told France 24.

Emilio Archila, of the Presidential Council for Stabilization and Consolidation, defends a similar point of view: "The idea that an agreement with only one of the guerrillas could be enough to achieve a lasting peace in Colombia was a lie", note- he, questioned by France 24. "To achieve this, measures should be taken against drug traffickers, ELN (National Liberation Army) guerrillas and Mexican cartels who want to establish themselves in Colombia."

>> See also: Colombia: at Catatumbo, "the damned of coca"

The Catatumbo subregion, bordering Venezuela, is an example of how peace accords have changed the dynamic between armed groups.

After the former guerrillas laid down their arms, the clash between two remaining armed groups led one of them to migrate to the department of Cauca - where Buenos Aires is located - more than 1,000 kilometers away, in an area already conflictual.

Cauca's situation makes it an object of envy for illegal organizations: it is a coca-producing region, with an outlet on the Pacific Ocean and connected to the rest of the country via rivers and mountains useful for smuggling.

These fights for this territory cause collateral victims: civilians.

Seventy-two attacks targeted the inhabitants of Cauca, according to the Office of the Ombudsman, the government institution which ensures respect for human rights.

It is also the department where the most activists have been murdered since the signing of the agreements: nine of the 47 murders recorded in the first quarter of 2020 took place there, according to the Somos Defensores association.

Violence in sub-regions, identified as priorities in the Peace Agreement, increased by 25%, compared to 2% nationwide.

Veterans are targeted

In addition to the civilian population, group assassinations target ex-combatants in particular: 200 former FARC members have been killed since the signing of the agreement, according to data from the United Nations Verification Mission.  

The risk for ex-combatants is so high that many of them have had to abandon their plans to rejoin civilian life: "The government deals with the issue of security and forced displacement with very administrative delays and not with the urgent need, ”criticizes Laura Villa, member of the national council of the Farc political party (Common Revolutionary Alternative Force) created on the remnants of the guerrillas.

A relative of a former Farc guerrilla murdered in October 2019 is crying over his coffin.

© Joaquín Sarmiento, AFP

Fear drove more than 9,500 ex-combatants to leave territories where the peace agreement placed them under government protection.

However, it is outside these territories that the vast majority of assassinations took place.

In response, the United Nations Mission recommended that the government strengthen the security of the ex-guerrillas.

The Farc party demanded, before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, measures for its protection.

Is the Duque government slowing down the peace process?

For opponents of the government, the problem is clear: Ivan Duque would be reluctant to implement the peace accords signed by his predecessor.

MEP Juanita Goebertus (Green Party, Center) declared in several media that this government did not have the political will to implement these agreements and that this was reflected in the budget.

Even if the financing of the peace process will increase by 9% in 2021, Juanita Goebertus denounces the fact that several essential institutions will be harmed.

¡ALERTA! 🚨 # SinRecursosNoHayPaz



La reducción de recursos para 2021 de las entidades a cargo de implementar el Acuerdo de Paz, particularly in temas de desarrollo rural, es dramática.



La verdadera voluntad política se mide con recursos.



Aquí un análisis del presupuesto 2021👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/lCnmztEvSP

- Juanita Goebertus (@JuanitaGoe) August 1, 2020

On this subject, Emilio Archila, of the Presidential Council, replied that it was necessary to raise the debate: "We cannot simplify this debate to 'the government does not want to move forward and destroy the agreements'. It is neither what is happening, nor what has happened, ”he says.

Ivan Duque is continued by the comments he made in 2017 before his presidential campaign.

He and members of his party claimed that their electoral objective was to "tear up" the agreement with the Farc.

Since his candidacy, he has reconsidered his remarks, assuring that he did not wish to end the agreements but to make important changes.

The difficulty of stopping coca production

One of the changes that Ivan Duque wanted to introduce to the Havana agreements is the forced eradication of coca, while the basic text preferred voluntary substitution.

It was one of the priorities at the start of his mandate.

In 2019, the authorities destroyed 94,606 hectares of coca, double the 41,500 hectares voluntarily eradicated between 2016 and 2019, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The president even raised the eradication target for 2020 to 130,000 hectares, despite the fact that organizations and the office of the Ombudsman asked him to prioritize voluntary substitution.

However, Ivan Duque enjoys the support of the United States:

"The United States is here to help by sharing its resources, its experience, and we applaud the work that has been done," said Mike Pompeo, during his last visit to Colombia, adding that his country will continue to "support crop eradication ".

This alliance also supports the Colombian government's intentions to reactivate aerial spraying.

Progress in certain areas

The picture is not all gloomy for the Duque government.

In certain areas, starting with the reintegration of ex-combatants, While Juan Manuel Santos had left his mandate, leaving only one project funded for the return to normal life of former guerrillas, there are currently 1,531 financial projects benefiting to more than 4,600 former insurgents.

A former guerrilla in a cooperative in Iconozo, in southern Colombia.

He sews masks to face the Covid-19 pandemic © FARC

Another action to be credited to the Duque government: the 24 places of reintegration for former Farc combatants have seen their legal guarantee extended, while the agreements only guaranteed them until August 2019.

Voices are raised, however, to qualify these advances claimed by the Duque administration, stressing in particular that 71.3% of ex-combatants still do not have a program funded by the authorities, according to the latest report of the Congressional Commission for the peace.

In addition, the Colombian government has favored the financing of individual projects, which has benefited 16.6% of former guerrillas, while the former farc guerrilla prefers to focus on collective programs.

"The individual approach is unsustainable in the long term. We give two cows and we go away. Our vision of reintegration would be to focus on solidarity economy processes, developing the community", explains Laura Villa, from the Farc party. .

Jorge Restrepo, of the Secretariat for the Technical Verification of the Peace Agreements, simply sums up Ivan Duque's assessment: progress certainly but only in the areas that the Head of State has prioritized.

Adapted from Spanish by Romain Houeix.

Find the original article here.

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR