A Peace Deal with Colombia’s FARC Insurgency is Tantalizingly Close

The FARC insurgency in Colombia has been raging for fifty years. And now, after a long peace process, it may soon be coming to a formal end. But even if a peace deal is signed, sustaining the peace will be incredibly challenging and may hinge on whether or not there is a meaningful improvement in the lives of people in rural Colombia.

That is the argument of my guest James Bargent, a freelance journalist in Colombia who has a piece in World Politics Review discussing the prospect of a peace dividend in poor, rural outposts of Colombia over which FARC has historically exerted a great deal of influence. We have a very interesting conversation about the history of this insurgency, the peace process, the challenge of coca eradication and the complex relationship between impoverished farmers, FARC guerrillas and the government.

Latin America’s longest insurgency may soon come to an end. Now comes the hard part: securing the peace.
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