Tensions before the advance of the agrarian reform in Colombia

First modification: 09/02/2022 – 16:30

In Colombia, access to land is at the heart of the armed conflict that has bloodied the country for almost six decades. Comprehensive rural reform was established point one of the Peace Accords.

Today, a few weeks after the start of the leftist government of Gustavo Petro, the president seeks to fulfill a campaign promise with an agrarian reform that gives “equity in access to land” and pays off a “historic debt.”

Tensions in the department of Cauca

This prospect arouses expectations. Indigenous people have occupied land by force, mainly in the department of Cauca, one of the most affected by the violence that followed the Peace Agreement with the FARC.

The government on Tuesday asked the police to quickly recover the invaded lands. “We ask those who are violently or inappropriately invading private properties throughout the country today to refrain from continuing to do so,” said Vice President Francia Márquez.

Indigenous people and peasants reject what they consider an ultimatum from the government to leave. Meanwhile, rancher leaders announced that they would organize to defend themselves against land seizures.

“Generate Alternatives”

The English NGO Oxfam, which considers agrarian reform to be imperative, trusts that the parties involved will not be carried away by the tensions. “We hope that there is a willingness on the part of all the actors involved to look for alternatives: it is in no one’s interest to return to critical situations,” says Laura Gómez, program manager for Oxfam Colombia.

Oxfam believes that Colombia must respond to an excessively inequitable distribution of land if it wants to achieve peace. “The 1% of the largest farms manage more than 80% of the land, and it is a source of permanent conflict in Colombia,” says Gómez. According to her, solving this problem is necessary “to build peace and to generate economic alternatives in the country.”

Meanwhile, the government of Gustavo Petro assures that it will give priority to dialogue to avoid the illegal occupation of land, while it will cede to the “most vulnerable Colombians” the properties seized from the corrupt and the drug trafficking mafia.