For more than fifty years Colombia has suffered an armed conflict involving the FARC guerrillas. In 2012 the FARC began peace negotiations with the government of Juan Manuel Santos, which was suspended this week over outrage at the kidnapping of an army general.
The FARC later agreed to release him. But the route to peace remains bumpy.
So why has Colombia’s armed conflict lasted so long?
In 1964, a rag tag group of peasants organized by the Communist Party rose up against the government. They evolved into a powerful guerrilla army. The FARC have outlasted the end of the Cold War because they’ve always had ready sources of cash.
These have included kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking and later illegal gold mining. Unlike other guerrilla movements, the FARC have never depended on Cuban or Soviet backing.
Historically, the FARC's staying power has also been aided by the lack of control by the central government over Colombia’s vast territories. Where the state has been weakest, often in remote rural areas, the FARC has control.
Finally, previous peace negotiations failed because the FARC showed little real intent to end their fight, using peace talks as a political tactic rather than a serious move towards peace.
This time would seem to be different. Over the past decade the Colombian state has strengthened its security forces and inflicted a series of military defeats on the FARC. Much of the old guard has died and the new generation has watched former guerrillas in Latin America don presidential sashes.
If after 50 years the FARC has failed to take power by the bullet, power by the ballot box seems like a good option—though many Colombians will find that hard to swallow. But even for the world's oldest guerrilla group, time keeps ticking and the patience of a nation grows thin.
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