The victims of the country’s armed conflict see in the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Peace (CTEP) the opportunity to achieve political participation, in addition to making visible the tragedy that they have lived through for years in their territories.
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That is why for the communities and social organizations, of victims and peasants, these peace seats are the space to obtain political representation in The congress that allows them to mark out resources that help their territories.
“It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights,” he says. Luis Trejos Rosero, teacher-researcher from the Universidad del Norte Luis Trejo, PhD in American Studies, and director of the UNCaribe Thought Center Observatory.
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It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights”
In one of his recent texts, Trejo in the company of his colleague Reynell Badillo, in which they analyze the risks of peace seats in the Caribbean, recalls that in 2017 the Congress of the Republic established that 167 municipalities in the country would host the 16 constituencies. Of these, 40 are in the Caribbean region, located specifically in the departments of Bolivar, Sucre, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena, and Cordoba.
“In other words, the region would have four representatives for the CTEPs: one for C8 (Montes de María), one for C12 (Sierra Nevada, Perijá and Zona Bananera), one for C13 (Sur de Bolívar) and one for the C14 (South of Córdoba)” specifies the text, in which they indicate that these seats are transitory in nature (they would work for the periods 2022-2026 and 2026-2030) and would be added to the 166 seats that currently make up the House of Representatives.
The risks in the region
Trejos and Badillo highlight the benefits of these peace seats for the leaders of these hard-hit territories to achieve their representation in Congress, but they do not hide that there are serious risks to guaranteeing transparent participation, given the conditions of the municipalities: violence associated with the armed conflictillegal rents and patronage political dynamics.
In the Caribbean, these special zones are located in the Montes de Mariasouth of Bolívar, south of Córdoba, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía del Perijá and the Banana Zone.
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The researchers highlight the report of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM)which warns that of the 40 Caribbean municipalities that will participate in the CTEP elections, 25 have registered acts of political violence between 2016 (signing of the Agreement) and 2021.
Violence has not ceased in these territories
Among the main obstacles that threaten this process is “the violence that has not ceased in any of the subregions,” say the researchers.
In their analysis of the region, they detail that the expansion of the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), the presence of the Conqueror Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) and the Eln, and the arrival of dissidents from the FARC-EP “they threaten to make these elections marked by violence and the impossibility of campaigning freely in rural territories,” they underline.
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Another risk that surrounds the election of the representatives of these peace seats are the traditional parties, which could use these constituencies as ways to put their political allies.
Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims of the armed conflict.
“Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims. victims of the conflict armed or from their territories, so there is room for legality, but not legitimacy in the seats”, indicates the analysis of Trejos and Badillo.
Lastly, academics warn of the very large distance in several municipalities between the electoral census and the number of registered victims.
“This can give rise, again, to the fact that, due to the low number of votes, the local machinery moves to support a candidate who can easily win. The inexperience of social organizations in matters of electoral logistics and voter mobilization can also work against it. The scenario can become diffuse considering that they must compete with illegal groupspolitical elites and against themselves”, the report points out.
BARRANQUILLA
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