EPISODE NOTES

If you're interested in learning about how peace gets made and unmade and then remade, Colombia is an amazing laboratory. Guest Elizabeth Dickinson is a senior analyst with the Crisis Group in Colombia. Dickinson spends her days in discussion with communities most affected by the civil war, as well as former FARC members. She and her colleagues use information gathered in the field to make policy recommendations to the government and help facilitate dialogues. Before entering the conflict prevention field, Dickinson worked as a journalist, reporting for The Economist and Foreign Policy Magazine. 

In this episode Dickinson paints a picture of a country in the midst of slow and difficult reforms. In the years since the FARC and the government signed a peace accord in 2016, putting an end to 50 years of violent conflict, breakthroughs in peace continue to happen. At the same time, armed groups who have taken the place of the FARC extort communities and fight each other. Violence between the military and guerrillas has decreased in the past year, but clashes between armed groups have increased since Gustavo Petro took the presidency in August 2022. According to one analysis, violence between these groups has risen 85% since Petro was inaugurated. However in August 2023, Petro’s government began a six-month ceasefire with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, an important armed group. Dickinson says the most important peacebuilding work is taking place at the community level, and she’s seen it with her own eyes. 

For more on the evolution of peace in Colombia, check out our previous episodes: 

Spotlight Colombia: After demilitarization, a new narrative with journalist Daniel Salgar

Spotlight Colombia: Behind the scenes of making peace with documentary filmmaker Juan Carlos Borrero

Learn more about Elizabeth Dickinson:

Twitter: @dickinsonbeth

Profile from Crisis Group: "I love understanding people. And I love listening to toads sing at night in the countryside"

Recent news and analysis on peace and conflict in Colombia:

Colombia's 'Total Peace' 1 Year On: Less State Violence, Stronger Criminal Groups from Insight Crime

Colombian gang leaders announce talks to address urban violence from Al Jazeera

The secret to Colombia’s drop in deforestation? Armed groups from Al Jazeera