Peace seats and territorial experiences in the Colombia+20 column
John Jairo Uribe Sarmiento joins CAPAZ’ Education and Science Diplomacy project with his opinion column on El Espectador’s Colombia+20 portal. Uribe is a research professor at Universidad de Ibagué with experience in research on peacebuilding from the discussion on institutionalism for peace, memory at local level, communication for peace, and participatory peacebuilding. He is also director of the Zoon Politikon research group.
In his column, Dr. Uribe writes about the possibilities that the peace seats elected on March 13 in the legislative elections could represent. He analyses some of the territories where victims were elected to occupy the seats, where initiatives of resistance to violence have been forged for years.
“The peace seats represent an opportunity for communities that have been excluded from the country’s social, political, and cultural dynamics. In fact, they have been created as spaces for victims to gain access to decision-making processes and contribute to transforming their conditions. (…) These territories have been the object of intense disputes between paramilitaries, the national army, and insurgents. However, many efforts have been made to resist the dynamics of the armed actors and to build peace experiences in the midst of war, even in the worst stages of the confrontation” – John Jairo Uribe.
Click here to read the latest column: Elections and peace in Colombia (by María Eugenia Bonilla).