Germany's foreign minister has praised Colombia's overtures of peace with FARC rebels. His visit to Bogota comes as government representatives and the National Liberation Army (ELN) plan formal negotiations.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/I. Valencia
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During a visit to the Colombian capital, Bogota, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday praised the efforts of the Colombian government to bring an end to the decades-long conflict between the state and the guerrilla organization FARC.
"The country has written history," Steinmeier said as he presented the concept of the "CAPAZ" German-Colombian peace institute.
"I hope that here, in the field of peace research, findings will emerge that can be fruitful for other parts of the world," Steinmeier said.
Together with universities and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Germany's Foreign Office has been preparing the foundation of the institute - subsidized with a yearly sum of 400,000 euros ($424,900) from German tax credits - since 2014.
The institute is expected to start work this summer, with the aim to advise on policy and conduct research on peace and conflict.
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Colombian President and Nobel Peace Prize holder Juan Manuel Santos said Germany is an important ally in the peace process.
"Reconciliation in Germany is our guide to peace in Colombia. With the contribution of this country, our experience will be an example for other conflicts," he said.
'Great challenge ahead'
Steinmeier also met on Friday with his Colombian counterpart, María Angela Holguin, who thanked Germany for its help in reconciling with the rebels.
"There is still a great challenge ahead," Holguin admitted after Steinmeier praised the deal as a "signal of hope for the whole world."
The peace deal, struck between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels in November, centers around some 5,700 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) giving up armed struggle and transforming into a legal political party. It also addresses transitional justice issues, amnesty, drug trafficking, and rural development.
Proof in the process
As part of his visit, Steinmeier also travelled to a FARC demobilization zone, south of the capital in Mesetas. Some 650 to 700 former rebels are expected to descend on the camp in coming weeks.
So far, only three representatives have turned up and no weapons have been handed in. A 44-year-old FARC leader, who called himself "Kunta Kinte" was confident that the peace process would be successful.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited a FARC demobilization camp in MesetasImage: picture-alliance/dpa /B. von Jutrczenka
"We've finished," the former rebel told Steinmeier.
The German foreign minister said it was "amazing and surprising" to see government forces and former FARC fighters cooperating so well under one roof.
"Here is where the peace treaty will prove itself," he added.
Hurdles to overcome
The nearly 50-year conflict between FARC and the Colombian government has claimed more than 260,000 lives and displaced several million people.
Despite the deal being signed, and demobilization about to begin, implementation of the accord is likely to encounter many hurdles in the coming months. Concerns have been raised that some guerrillas may join criminal drug gangs or the smaller left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) during the reintegration process.
A recent increase in attacks on pro-peace and rural activists has also added to worries that right-wing paramilitary groups and landowners may act as spoilers.
Talks had been scheduled to start Thursday, but according to the ELN, they were delayed for "logistical" reasons.
Latin America makes history in 2016
Peace in Colombia, the Olympic Games in Brazil, and the Rolling Stones' first concert in Cuba: We look back at 2016, a year in which Latin America was the stage for some big international political events.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Munoz
Satisfaction!
On March 25, just one day after the end of a historic visit from US President Barack Obama, who was the first US president to visit Cuba in 88 years, the Rolling Stones played Havana. Tens of thousands of Cubans poured into the Ciudad Deportiva stadium to cheer the cult British band's first ever concert on Cuba.
Image: picture alliance/ZUMA Press/El Universal
Evo forever?
In a constitutional referendum on February 24 the people of Bolivia voted decisively against a fourth term for President Evo Morales. The 57-year-old leader of the socialist MAS party, who has ruled Bolivia since 2006, acknowledged defeat. But since then he has announced his intention to stand again in 2019 despite the constitutional ban.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Raldes
Banker's comeback
Surprise in Peru: Pablo Kuczynski, a World Bank economist and former head of Peru's Central Reserve Bank, won the presidential election on June 5 by a wafer-thin majority. Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori, was the favorite; but it seems that people's fears of a shift to the right outweighed concerns about neoliberalism.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Agencia Andina
Germany apologizes
At a meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on July 13, President Joachim Gauck apologized for the failure of German diplomats to intervene in Colonia Dignidad, a Bavarian-style agricultural community taken over by a German pedophile, Paul Schäfer, that served as a torture camp for the Chilean secret service during the Pinochet dictatorship. But there was no compensation for victims.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/E. Felix
The world comes to Rio
It was a festival of superlatives: Around 10,000 athletes and half a million spectators took part in the Olympic Games in Rio from August 5 to 21. The biggest sporting event in the world remained mercifully free of terrorist attacks, storms, epidemics and crime; but the IOC made negative headlines with yet another corruption scandal.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Y. Chiba
Bolt bathes in the adulation
Nine-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt was a popular favorite at the Games, and became an idol in the host country Brazil. The six-foot-five (1.95-meter) Jamaican sprinter ran the 100 meters in 9.81 seconds to make him the first athlete to win the event three times in a row.
Image: Getty Images/P. Gilham
Dilma Rousseff forced out
Not only was she the first woman president of Brazil, she was also the first woman president to be impeached. On August 31, the required two-thirds majority of the Brazilian senate voted for the 70-year-old Rousseff to be removed from office. Brazilian society is still divided over her impeachment.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/E. Peres
Colombia dares to make peace
A miracle comes true: After more than 50 years of civil war, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the FARC rebels, Rodrigo Londono, signed a historic peace agreement in Havana on September 26. Seven million people were internally displaced as a result of the Colombian civil war, which also claimed more than 200,000 lives.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Vergara
The people say no
But in a referendum on October 2 the Colombian people voted by a narrow margin to reject the peace agreement. President Santos renegotiated with FARC and presented a new agreement, which was approved by the Colombian Congress on December 1. Santos was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/I. Valencia
SOS Venezuela
Venezuela at the edge of the abyss: Hunger, poverty and fear are rife in the country with the biggest oil reserves in the world. Mismanagement and the fall in the price of crude oil have caused a serious economic crisis. There are shortages of basic foodstuffs, medicines and electricity. In 2016, inflation was already more than 700 percent. Anyone who can is leaving the country.
Image: Reuters/I. Alvarado
Trump: No thanks!
The election of Donald Trump as the next US president has cast a shadow over Latin America's relations with its northern neighbor. Here, in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez, a street artist has sprayed a nine-meter caricature of the US president-elect on a concrete wall at the Rio Bravo canal.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Aguilar
Tragedy strikes
Disaster in Colombia: A plane belonging to Bolivian airline LaMia crashed on approach to Medellin after running out of fuel. Some 71 people died, including 19 players of Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense Real. The footballers were en route to a Copa Sudamericana final match. There was worldwide consternation over the tragedy. Chapecoense were later declared the winners of the tournament.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Benavides
Elections in Haiti
After numerous failed attempts, a Haitian election finally produced a result. On November 20 the majority (55.7 percent) of Haitians elected the 48-year-old banana plantation owner Jovenel Moise to be their head of state. But the turnout was shockingly low: Only 1.3 million of the 6.2 million Haitians eligible actually cast their ballots.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Arduengo
Farewell to Fidel
The death of Fidel Castro on November 25 marked the end of a political era for Cuba. Revolutionary, head of government, president, and first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, "El Comandante" was a worldwide figurehead for the Left. His resistance to the United States and to the trade embargo imposed by Washington turned his socialist island into a symbol of the Cold War.
