Demobbed FARC to join Marcha Patriotica

Colombia´s leftist Marcha Patriotica (MP) will welcome demobilized FARC guerrillas into their ranks, it was announced today.

MP spokesman Carlos Lozano appears to confirm what rumours have for months suggested; that the movement Piedad Córdoba established in April will be the platform from which the FARC seek political representation following the conclusion of peace talks.

Next week President Santos will open these negotiations, hoping within months to end the longest running internal conflict in the Americas.

Should the government reach agreement for the FARC to lay down their arms, it is expected that the route will be open for former guerrillas to enter public life.

Close to 80% of Colombians are in favour of the peace talks, but many are against the idea of former rebels in Congress.

Despite this, Colombia must prepare for the sight of ex-guerrillas in future election campaigns. And while this will undoubtedly offend victims, and will polarize opinion, Santos believes that yes the salt will sting but that it will over time also heal the nation´s wounds.

The question then is when will the FARC be (legally) represented in the corridors of power, and how?

Although the elections in 2014 are perhaps too soon for former combatants to stand themselves, they will make their voice heard – and no doubt put forward their manifesto – through the MP.

Piedad Córdoba, herself banned from Congress for her alleged links to the FARC, established the MP while secret talks were ongoing between the Santos regime and the guerrilla group, in Cuba. This lead to accusations – once it emerged that these talks had taken place – that Córdoba had been preparing the ground for the marxist rebels to mobilize their political troops.

Defence Minister Pinzón went as far as to suggest the MP has become, for all intents and purposes, the political arm of the FARC, an accusation the movement denies. Today´s comments from its spokesman will do little to convince us that Pinzón is wrong.

All roads point to the MP adopting a similar position to Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland.