Can Colombia Reintegrate the Farc?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 26 July 2016
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After more than 50 years of armed conflict that has left 200,000 dead and millions displaced, Colombia is on the brink of peace. A final deal between the government and the Farc guerrilla movement is expected to be signed soon. Thousands of armed fighters will then lay down their weapons in preparation for reintegration into a society from which they have been estranged for years. But the process will not be easy – for the Farc’s fighters, or for the rest of Colombian society.
(Photo: Fighters of the Front 53, a faction of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla movement, in Los Alpes, 150km south-east of Bogota. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the inquiry with me, Helena Merriman. |
| 0:07.0 | On the 23rd of June this year, two men stood up, walked towards each other and shook hands. |
| 0:19.4 | Those watching smiled and clapped, seemingly in disbelief. One of those men was Juan Manuel Santos, the |
| 0:27.3 | president of Colombia. The other, Rodrigo London, otherwise known as Timoshenko, the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC. |
| 0:38.0 | They just made history, shaking hands on a ceasefire after 50 years of war in which over 200,000 have been killed. |
| 0:47.0 | It's one of the last steps before a full peace deal is signed in the coming months. |
| 0:52.0 | Back in the Colombian capital, Bogota, |
| 0:55.5 | thousands stood in front of TV screens watching the ceremony unfold. Some wave balloons, |
| 1:01.7 | others cheered, some even wiped away tears. |
| 1:06.0 | I'm having a difficult time controlling myself, |
| 1:11.0 | this man said, |
| 1:12.0 | because I've been waiting for this moment my entire life. |
| 1:17.1 | Once the final details of the deal are agreed, something extraordinary is expected to happen. |
| 1:23.2 | All 7,000 battle-hardened FARC fighters |
| 1:26.8 | have been told they must leave the camps |
| 1:28.8 | and hand in their weapons. |
| 1:31.4 | Think about it. You've spent your entire life in the jungle. You've known nothing but war and now you've got to start a new life. |
| 1:40.0 | How do you do it? So our question this week, can Columbia reintegrate the FARC? |
| 1:47.0 | We're going to hear from someone who's been involved in the peace talks as well as a former FARC fighter but first |
| 1:55.3 | who are the FARC? Part 1 in the jungle. The rank and file guerrillas sleep in what they call kambuches, which are basically raised platforms off the ground made out of just |
| 2:15.5 | planks of wood. Our first expert witness Sabila Brzinsky, a journalist based in Bogota, |
| 2:21.4 | who spent time in the FARC camps. |
... |
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