The kidnapping of Colombian Brig. Gen. Ruben Dario Alzate by Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels could not have come at a worse time for the November peace talks in Havana, Cuba. The abduction halted negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC's leadership at a critical moment, but it is unlikely to completely derail them. Instead, the Colombian government will be forced to temporarily suspend the dialogue until the general is returned.
The incident may highlight the lack of coordination between top FARC leaders and the various fronts fighting for control on the ground. The Colombian government must maintain a delicate balancing act when talks resume, satisfying a general population that wants FARC members held accountable for their crimes, while also presenting favorable terms to which the militants will agree.
Brig. Gen. Alzate was captured Nov. 16, two days before the official beginning of the 31st round of peace talks in neutral Havana, Cuba. Elements of FARC's Northwestern bloc, also known as the Ivan Rios bloc, are believed to have conducted the kidnapping in Las Mercedes, Choco department. At the time of abduction, reportedly by the 34th front, the general was accompanied by two soldiers and a civilian attorney, an unusually small entourage considering the heavy FARC presence in the region. They were also in plain clothes, a breech of military protocol. The exact purpose of the general's foray into FARC territory is not known, but he was taken along with an army captain and the attorney. The remaining soldier, the pilot of the boat that delivered the party to Las Mercedes, was released to spread news of the abduction, but word reportedly did not reach the FARC delegates in Cuba until after the fact.
It is unclear who exactly ordered the capture of Alzate — whether it was authorized at a higher level or simply a tactical decision made by a local commander on the ground. The possibility remains that the Northwestern bloc kidnapped the general to attract attention to its cause; thereby ensuring the group's particular demands were addressed at the peace talks. Through such attention, the front could secure an influential position in ongoing peace negotiations.
Reclassifying Crimes
The kidnapping happened during the Colombian government's sensitive negotiations over the degree to which FARC personnel can be held accountable for as yet unspecific previous crimes. In exchange for disarming, rebel leaders want the Colombian government to be lenient in awarding punishments for past transgressions, partly by reclassifying existing criminal charges as political crimes. This means that FARC leaders officially pardoned by the state would potentially be allowed to run for public office, thereby maintaining a political stake in the Colombian government. This point alone is thought to be a necessary concession by many FARC leaders.
The thought of transmuting charges is controversial in Colombia. Many citizens demand that the rebels be punished for their crimes, but the government's chief negotiator in Havana, Humberto de la Calle, along with the Colombian president, believes that a compromise is necessary if there is to be any chance of reaching an accord. If the Colombian government pushes too far ahead in its desire to punish FARC leaders, the militants will reject any deal and abandon the peace talks. Conversely, if the government appears too soft when it comes to appeasing the militants, it could lose critical political and popular support.
A complicating factor, however, is the variable nature of criminality across the FARC command strata, and the function of the chain-of-command. At the lower level, rebels who participated in what are considered to be lesser crimes, particularly drug trafficking and kidnapping, are pushing for full amnesty under the law. Yet, further up the command tree, more senior leaders could find increasingly severe crimes levied against them, crimes against humanity, for example, which are much harder to evade. The approach is broadly similar to conduct at military tribunals, where commanders are held responsible for the actions of their subordinates and must bear responsibility for issuing the orders that dictate conduct on the ground. The more serious the crime, the less likely it is to be pardoned by the government.
A further complication is the fact that there is a disparity in representation when it comes to the rebel front. Senior FARC commanders are in Havana, representing the organization as a whole. Rifts are likely to emerge between low-level militants and top leaders if the rebel perception at the local level is that senior leaders are negotiating with their own interests at heart. If a deal is reached in Havana that local units are unhappy with, they will simply refuse to disarm, creating more problems in the long run.
Though negotiations have been suspended in the interim, talks will likely resume if the general and his entourage are returned unharmed. The military have agreed to pause search operations in the area where the general was abducted to allow the Red Cross in Colombia to attempt to negotiate a hostage release. In the meantime, FARC leaders will have to address their internal disagreements and the Colombian government must persuade its population. If the rebels can form a consensus on their respective crimes and the issue of accountability, and if the government can sell the idea of reclassifying criminal acts into political offenses, a peace deal may still be achievable.
