by: María Alejandra Vargas 10B
“We need to break the historical cycle of violence.
So that is why the idea of ​​the guarantee of non-repetition has been
central to this whole peace process concept and has been the logic
behind each of the agenda items of Havana.”
Sergio Jaramillo
​
The internal armed conflict in Colombia is an asymmetric war of low intensity that has developed in Colombia since 1960. The main characters of this conflict have been the Colombian government, the armed groups with extreme left-wing ideals, and decades later the right-wing paramilitary groups, drug cartels and criminal gangs. This war has caused intense pain to all Colombian families, even though some of them are not directly affected; this is a wound that is permanently open in all Colombians and their hearts.
Fighting between the army and FARC in three departments Photo: Leon Dario Pelaez / WEEK
​
Many Governments tried to make several peace treaties, but so far only one managed to emerge victorious. On August 26th, 2012, in the House, El Laguito (the complex of mansions of Cuban diplomacy), was signed the document that marked the beginning of the peace process. That day, they closed six months of confidential conversations that had begun on February 23rd in the same place, after a long period of exchange messages between the guerrillas and the government.
​
They talked about establishing conversations and made clear that the purpose of the dialogue was the end of the conflict. Both agreed, but the positions were quite distant, in fact extremely distant. The government came up with proposals of disarmament and guarantees for their return to civilian life. The FARC put on the table its Bolivarian platform and summarized the ideas that had been agreed in the Caguan, which dealed with broad issues as the economic model. The proposal was rejected by the Government. Therefore, they started a design stage of a new agenda that after six months, it had six points and a preamble. The government wanted to make a schedule of three months, probably because they planned to announce the dialogues in the Summit of the Americas, but it was impossible to accomplish.
​
In the second conversation they started talking about the contents and methodology of the talks, but in the third one a crisis was formed, that brought both to stand from the table and say "goodbye, it was not possible". The issue of contention was the surrender of weapons, a term that the FARC did not accept, but then they changed it “to lay down the arms”, term that still causes controversy in Colombian families.
​
On August 12 of 2016, the document was finally finished, and both bands went to consult with their own people. Government delegates with the president and the FARC with their companions. Some soldiers in the guerrilla believed that their delegates had given too much. The contradiction was solved in the guerrilla ranks with the idea that the preamble of the agreement was very large and allowed to talk about everything that was not agreed on six points. That was the main reason for discord when they made the dialogs public: the FARC considered the preamble binding and the Government not. This has been part of constant contradictions in both delegations.
​
Finally the document was signed, and they have shown us all the six agreements they have made. The first one is the agricultural development agreement. The second one is the political participation of this group, and it consists in FARC participation in politic issues as formal candidates. The third one talks about the end of the conflict and the end of fire. They also talked about some points in which they treat the victims in the conflict and the pay for the damage. They also talked about the solution of the illicit drugs and finally implementation, verification and countersignature.
On 23 March 2016 the conflict to be signed Photo: EFE
​
Now it´s time for Colombian people to vote if they agree with the entire document that the government and “Las FARC” made for about 5 years. This 3rd of October, the entire nation has to vote for the plebiscite. This will not only define the country’s future, but it also can be the only hope that we have to start living in a country in peace. It´s important to know that peace isn`t made instantly, on the contrary, it takes a lot of time, and it is the responsibility of the Colombian population if they want to construct peace or live in war for the rest of their lives. We can forgive, but we will never forget.
END OF WAR, THE BEGINNING OF A NEW OPPORTUNITY
HOW FAR WILL THEY GET?
by: María Alejandra Vargas 10B
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired,
Signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger
are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State.
Pro-democracy protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. One of the human rights is to be free of expressing ourselves, but Syria’s government just doesn´t care. They have entered in a hard dictatorship and in a war that seems eternal. They also took some of the students who were involved with the public demonstrations to produce terror and fright people so they wouldn´t disobey or protest ever again. By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking the streets across the country. Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and later to expel security forces from their local areas.
Resultado de imagen para syria war
Children look at seized weapons from IS in Kobane, northern Syria (AFP)
Violence escalated and the country descended into civil war as rebel brigades were formed to battle government forces for control of cities, towns and the countryside. Fighting reached the capital Damascus and second city of Aleppo in 2012. By June 2013, the UN said 90,000 people had been killed in the conflict, and by August 2015, that figure had climbed to 250,000, according to activists and the UN.
A UN commission of inquiry has evidence that all parties to the conflict have committed war crimes - including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances. They have also been accused of using civilian suffering - such as blocking access to food, water and health services through sieges - as a method of war.
Hundreds of people were killed in August 2013 after rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin were fired at several suburbs of Damascus. Western powers said it could only have been carried out by Syria's government, but the government blamed rebel forces. How far will this war get? They have killed so many people, because of power; they are killing their own people and they just don’t care, only because of power.
More than 4.5 million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them, women and children. Neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history. About 10% of Syrian refugees have sought safety in Europe, creating political divisions as countries argue over sharing the burden. A further 6.5 million people are internally displaced inside Syria; 1.2 million were driven from their homes in 2015 alone.
The scary part is that they have to cross the Mediterranean sea, and it is one of the most dangerous aquatic rows in this world, because of its aggressive waves. Also, the boats that get out of Syria beat their capacity; so that is one of the main reasons that many of them have disappeared in their way of a new beginning.
Resultado de imagen para syria war
A man sits amid debris after an apparently random air attack by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo earlier this week. Credit: Hosam Katan/Reuters
Now intensified attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo, have left nearly two million people without water, the UN says. Unicef deputy director Justin Forsyth told the BBC: "Aleppo is slowly dying, and the world is watching, and the water is being cut off and bombed - it's just the latest act of inhumanity."
The lack of running water could be "catastrophic" as residents now had to resort to contaminated water and were at risk from waterborne diseases. Water is being used as a weapon of war by all sides, because it is essential for our life, and also if someone drinks contaminated water it can have really bad consequences, because the poisoning is really high; in some cases it can carry to death.
War does not determine who is right, only who is left behind, Bertrand Russell