Rather than heralding the world’s end, as per a dubious interpretation of Mayan prophecy, 2012 may go down as the year when a new cycle of peace-brokering began in the Hispanic world. The most high profile of these projects is Colombia’s negotiation with the FARC rebels, but other programs designed to stifle violence have germinated in El Salvador. Meanwhile in the Philippines, where despite colonisation, Spanish is a minority language, talks with long-standing rebels are in motion. Each has its own unique difficulties, but a transition to a more peaceful future could be in the pipeline.
In El Salvador, Minister of Justice and Public Security David Munguía Payés has facilitated a truce, or tregua between two transnational gangs whose rivalry was ravaging the country. The Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street bands began as self-defence groups in Los Angeles, protecting Latinos, and Salvadorians especially, from already-existent gangs.
They have since continued their actions through Central America and after research demonstrated that the majority of El Salvador’s homicides were gang-related, the government laid the foundations for a truce. It was negotiated by a former guerrilla commander from the 1980s, Raúl Mijango and Bishop Fabio Colindres, previously a military and police chaplain.
Since the cease-fire in March, the homicide rate has been reduced from 13 a day to five. Security in the streets of the country, particularly in the capital San Salvador has improved dramatically, but questions remain as to why these two mortal enemies are stopping hostilities.
Notwithstanding the effective, government-facilitated mediation, one suggestion, or coincidence, is that cartels looking to transport drugs through the region to the US market will find their task a great deal easier now that they do not have to contend with being caught in a cross-fire between opposing gangs. How long this truega will last remains to be seen.
In the Philippines meanwhile, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been fighting for independence in the southern island of Mindanao since 1977. The conflict has claimed the lives of 120,000 people, with around 2 million forcibly displaced.
The framework agreement required that the MILF renounce claims to independence in favour of the creation of a partially-autonomous jurisdiction. The central government in Manila would retain control of amongst other areas, defence, security and monetary policy, but allows for an increased role for Shari’a law. Manila has also agreed a truce with the New People’s Army, the military wing of the country’s Communist Party.
As in Colombia, several previous attempts at peace have been fruitless, and successful outcomes would significantly boost the popularity of presidents Benigno S. Aquino III and Bogotá’s Juan Manuel Santos. In both instances, peace-talks have taken place overseas: Malaysia in the Philippines’ MILF case, and Norway and Cuba in Colombia’s potential FARC settlement.
Mirroring El Salvador, in the Philippines and Colombia there is hope for the prospects of peace, but serious problems remain. In the Philippines, the Abu Sayyaf, a more extreme rebel group with links to al-Qaeda were not included in the negotiations with the MILF, whilst in Colombia, peace with the FARC is a necessary step before the government can begin to challenge the more serious issues relating to narco-trafficking. There have been improvements, and there is hope, but it remains lukewarm.
As the curtain comes down on 2012, and a Mayan calendar cycle on 21 December, let’s hope that the new age delivers the peace strived for over the last months, years and decades.