Integral Rural Reform and Democratic Opening for Peace Building: Transitional Justice in Colombia

Abstract

This article deals with the transitional process in development in the neighboring country after the end of a conflict that lasted for more than fifty years involving guerrilla movements, paramilitary groups and public forces in Colombia. Its goal is to analyze two of the most peculiar aspects of the agreement between the protagonists of the confrontations: integral rural reform and democratic opening for the peace building. Firstly, the peculiar dynamics that involve law and politics in times of transition are highlighted, and then the peace process itself. Then, it moves on to the two points mentioned in the agreement, discussing how the obligations assumed by Colombian society with regard to expanding access to land and conducting political reform are in line with the idea of non-repetition that should guide transitional process. It is discussed how the agrarian question, related to the origin and performance of the FARC-EP guerrilla movement, could not be absent from the context of the agreement signed, while at the same time reflecting on the need to change the electoral system as an imperative for the expansion of competition in electoral disputes, which would convince those historically marginalized movements to surrender their arms and believe in the coming to power by the vote.