Devil’s in the Details

By I. William Zartman

I. William Zartman is a member of the Steering Committee of the Processes of International Negotiation Program and the Jacob Blaustein Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).  He has been a Distinguished Fellow of the United States Institute of Peace, Olin Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, and received a lifetime achievement award from the International Association for Conflict Management.

There should be no doubt that the current round of negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is a major step toward a full peace agreement.  It provides for accountability for past crimes on both sides, even though the details still remain to be worked out, and it sets a deadline for a completed agreement, even though the FARC has since contested it. 

The focus now turns to working out the details of a final agreement, but as any negotiator knows, the devil is in the details.  In addition, we will hear remonstrances from the FARC—that’s not “what they really meant” or “really agreed to,” such as with the deadline.  All this is to be expected, and, if anything, it reflects the bumpy cohesion within the rebel group.  The Colombian government needs to keep its and the FARC’s nose to the grindstone and move resolutely to the final agreement within six months. That is much later than the May or October deadline that the government originally set for itself, in order to tie a referendum to the October local elections.  But the fact is that a rabbit was pulled out of the hat in October when the six-month deadline was set and both parties (President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC’s Timoléon Jiménez “Timoshenko,” who had never been seen before) shook hands on it.

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