October 7, 2016

"The Colombian people voted in early October 2016 to reject a peace agreement negotiated by the government and the Marxist rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end their 52-year war. The national referendum asked voters the following question: 'Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and construct a stable and enduring peace?' 50.21 percent voted 'No,' while the remaining 49.78 percent voted 'Yes.' The margin of difference was just 53,894 votes. The turnout was low, at just 37 percent of the country's 34 million eligible voters. The low turnout was reportedly due to 'extreme tropical rain, mostly in coastal departments where 'yes' won handily.' However, the low turnout could also have been due, as we shall see, to unhappiness among Colombian citizens stemming from their perceptions of injustice in the terms of the peace agreement (Grandin, 2016; Cobb & Casey, 2016).

The rejected peace agreement, which was the result of four years of negotiations between the Colombian government and FARC representatives in Havana, Cuba, had proposed 'reforms aimed at bringing the rebels into the political system, addressing drug trafficking through crop substitution and allowing for reduced prison sentences for rebels who lay down their arms.' The agreement included 'a system of reparations for victims of the conflict' as well as a system of 'transitional justice' that would 'allow combatants to avoid jail time in exchange for full and honest participation in a truth and reconciliation process' (Carasik, 2016; Duran, 2016; Cobb & Casey, 2016).

Senator Álvaro Uribe, who was Colombia’s president from 2002 to 2010, led the opposition to the peace agreement, successfully reframing the 'vote that was supposed to be on peace into a vote on the FARC.' Uribe, whose father had been murdered during a botched kidnapping attempt by the FARC, argued that 'the agreement was too lenient on the rebels,' whom he suggested 'should be prosecuted as murderers and drug traffickers.' Uribe's 'No' campaign struck a chord with the 'many Colombians who had endured years of kidnappings and killings by the rebels.' As one 'No' voter complained about the agreement: 'It’s not fair for them not to go to prison without repentance … These murderers should pay.'"

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