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Peace Process

Can renegade guerrillas reignite a war?

By Steve Hide September 16, 2019
Renegade FARC leader Iván Márquez makes a video announcement that a splinter FARC group will retake arms.
Renegade FARC leader Iván Márquez makes a video announcement that a splinter FARC group will retake arms. Photo: FARC-EP

Confused by the recent news stories on conflict in Colombia? Here’s a quick Q & A to get you up to speed….

The ‘FARC taking up guns’ made world news last month. What’s happening?

A splinter group of around 20 former FARC guerrillas appeared in a YouTube video waving guns and announcing their “return to arms.” The FARC signed a peace agreement with the Colombian state in 2016. Since then, around 7,000 former fighters have given up their guns and are reintegrating into society. The renegades now want to rekindle the armed struggle.  

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Steve Hide

Steve Hide is a veteran journalist and NGO consultant with decades of experience working in Colombia and around the world. He has coordinated logistics for international NGOs in countries including Colombia, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. He provides personal safety training for journalists via the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and his journalistic work has appeared in The Telegraph, The Independent, The Bogotá Post and more. He's also the Editor in Chief of Colombiacorners.com, where he writes about roads less travelled across Colombia.

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