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President of Colombia Halts Peace Talks With Rebels After General Is Seized

Cindy Arnson

This New York Times article quotes Latin American Program Director Cynthia Arnson on the recent breakdown of the Colombia peace process.

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“Depending on what happens, I would say, in the next 48 to 72 hours, it could throw a major wrench” in the talks, said Cynthia J. Arnson, director of the Latin American program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington. “If it’s the FARC and they have this guy, they have to give him up or the talks cannot go forward.”

While the Colombian Army has continued to attack the FARC and has killed several commanders since the talks began, Dr. Arnson said that widespread public distrust of the guerrillas meant that high-profile acts by the FARC could sway public opinion against the peace process.

“Every time the FARC does something like this, it confirms all the worst fears and assumptions about who the FARC is and what will happen in a Colombia where they’re allowed to participate in politics if an accord is successful,” she said.

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About the Author

Cindy Arnson

Cynthia J. Arnson

Distinguished Fellow, Latin America Program
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more