DC Event on Demobilizations in Colombia

Please join us on November 17th from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. for the U.S. Institute of Peace’s next Colombia Peace Forum discussion on “Demobilizations in Colombia.”  The event will take place at USIP headquarters (2301 Constitution Avenue, NW) and will be webcast (view here during the event).   RSVP here.

The event is co-sponsored with the Colombia Committee for Human Rights and the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University and will feature two former insurgents who have gone through a demobilization process under previous peace agreements.  The panelists will discuss the evolution of Colombia’s DDR programs, the strengths and weaknesses of Colombian approaches to DDR, and anticipated opportunities and challenges for future demobilizations in Colombia as part of a peace process. Join the conversation on Twitter with #ColombiaPeaceForum.

Panelists will include:

José Aristizábal: Social researcher, writer and expert in issues of globalization, armed conflicts, the  Colombian conflict, peace movements, indigenous movements, and new social movements. A participant and leader in social and political struggles in Colombia in the second half of the 20th century, Mr. Aristizábal was exiled in Spain from 2003 to April 2014. He was a founder of Corporación Nuevo Arco Iris, where he coordinates the Observatory of the Armed Conflict and Post-Conflict.

Myriam Criado:  Former spokeswoman of the Popular Liberation Army (EPL) of the Magdalena region, and former member of the Colombian communist party. Ms. Criado was a candidate for the House of Representatives in 1992 and for the regional assembly (1992-1994) but was not elected. She occupied various leadership positions with the non-profit organization, Fundación Progresar, established to facilitate the demobilization process of the EPL. She is currently a researcher for the National Center of Historical Memory, and was nominated as a spokeswoman to the National Peace Council for the association of demobilized women of the insurgency.

Marc Chernick, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University, will serve as a discussant.

Virginia M. Bouvier, Moderator,  senior advisor for Latin America at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and editor of Colombia: Building Peace in a Time of War, just released in Spanish by the Universidad del Rosario Press.