Colombia and Peace: Final thoughts and reflection

Throughout the semester, my group has examined the decades of conflict in Colombia beginning in the 1950s and into the present day surrounding current peace negotiations. The ongoing conflict between the revolutionary FARC rebels and the Colombian government has hindered Colombia’s domestic and international progress for too long. Our group has explored the origins and history of conflict from both FARC and the government’s side with an objective perspective. While FARC is easy to deem as the antagonist, our group has showed that the dynamic is much more complicated and there are some legitimate grievances on both sides. FARC began in the 1950s as a result of the privatization of agricultural lands and oppressive state control but has now developed into a violent guerilla group, which utilizes illegitimate tactics. The conflict in Colombia emphasizes important political complexities that we have examined in class and poses questions about the legitimate uses of force and the role of the state.

            Because the conflict has persisted for so long, in conducting our research, our group was forced to search for both old and recent sources and news reports. There were adequate sources documenting the history of the conflict but finding more current updates was more difficult because of the media’s selective coverage of the conflict. Our group was dynamic in contributing different kinds of sources, each person bringing their own perspectives, ideas, and knowledge from other classes or experience with the conflict. Because the blogs are published with the sources, it was important for us to have accountable, recognizable sources to assure the reader that our information is legitimate and defendable.

            When I think about what I have gained from this assignment, the gains are diverse. Not only did I garner knowledge about my topic but also important lessons for working with people and applying in class material to outside subjects. In studying the conflict in Colombia I realized how what we’re learning in class is applicable to things going on all over the world; for example, with Colombia, I can relate it back to our discussions about legitimacy and the relationships states hold with their citizens. Furthermore, the topic of Colombia, in contrast to some of the other group’s topics, was less in the media and less talked about when I picked my group so I was fortunate to have a group that was willing to due more extensive research and hold discourse on such complex political intricacies.