Guardian Unlimited
Go to:  
Guardian UnlimitedThe Guardian
Home UK Business Online World dispatch The Wrap Weblog Talk Search
The Guardian World News guide Arts Special reports Columnists Audio Help Quiz

Letters
 
  Search this site






  In this section
Choices for children

Return to the islands


Letter

Colombia on the mend

Friday July 9, 2004
The Guardian


There is evidence available at rhul.ac.uk/economics/research/conflict/colombia suggesting that hindering the Colombian war effort would place vulnerable people at risk (Letters, July 8). We have assembled a unique dataset on the Colombian conflict that contains virtually all the conflict events (there are more than 21,000 of them) from 1988-2003. It shows that in recent years the biggest killers of civilians have been the illegal rightwing paramilitaries with the leftwing guerrillas close behind.

All illegal armed groups in Colombia have compiled truly horrific records of violence. Government killings of civilians turn out to be a small fraction of those of the non-state groups, and have fallen almost continuously over the years. We have shown that from 1996 to 2002, both the guerrillas and the paramili taries grew explosively and the conflict escalated to a peak. But since August 2002, when the present government took charge, things have improved considerably.

Our dataset indicates, for example, that the last two years have been the safest for civilians since at least as far back as 1988. Moreover, tentative negotiations with the paramilitaries have just begun that have some chance of removing many of them from the scene. There is also a possibility that the ELN, Colombia's smaller guerrilla group, might be willing to enter negotiations as well.

We think it would be a mistake for Britain to reduce its ties with Colombia at this critical moment.
Jorge Restrepo
Prof Michael Spagat
Juan Fernando Vargas

Royal Holloway College, University of London




Special report
Colombia

Audio report
21.02.02: Government prepares for 'all-out war' with Farc

Interactive guide
Colombia: history of conflict

Media
El Espectador (Spanish)
El Pais (Spanish)
Semana.com (Spanish)
El Tiempo (Spanish)

Useful links
Colombian government site (Spanish)
Farc
ELN




Printable version | Send it to a friend | Save story

 
 



UP

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004