By Program
The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies welcomed Monica Herz of the Catholic University of Rio de Janiero on April 2, 2009 to discuss the ongoing conflicts in Colombia. Dr. Eugene Gholz, Strauss Center Senior Fellow, introduced Professor Herz.
Professor Herz opened the discussion by providing an overview of the current hostilities in Colombia, then advocating interventionist policies to restore peace. After describing the various combatants and their motivations, Professor Herz noted that the Colombian conflict is actually a regional, rather than national, issue. She described how drug trafficking, particularly with respect to cocaine, has become intertwined with pre-existing conflicts in Colombia.
Professor Herz further addressed how hostilities in Colombia have spilled over into neighboring states with respect to the expansion of gun and drug smuggling, assassinations and mass dislocation, and provided statistical data regarding refugees and kidnappings that result from Colombian violence. She then turned her attention to multilateral efforts to bring peace to Colombia, noting that there is currently a debate as to whether such efforts exist at all.
Professor Herz then described the efforts of various organizations, such as the Organization of American States (OAS), to restore peace in Colombia by supporting local activities in conflict zones, promoting peaceful dispute resolution and demobilizing former combatants in an effort to reintegrate them into society. The OAS has also produced reports that are highly critical of the Colombian government’s conflict management efforts.
In concluding the lecture, Professor Herz again stressed the regional dimension of the violence in Colombia. She expressed optimism that regional organizations and NGOs can work in conjunction with one another to bring aid and relief to those affected by the conflict. The U.S., too, has a role to play in restoring peace to Colombia.
Professor Herz then fielded questions from the audience regarding Colombia’s ability to build relationships with its neighbors given its diplomatic isolation, the effect of the Obama Administration’s policy on regional dynamics in South America, the reluctance of the Brazilian and American governments to intervene in Colombia out of concern for principles of sovereignty and non-intervention and the relationship between the emergence of cocaine and ongoing political violence.
