Little Talked About, This Issue Can Choke Colombia’s Peace Deal Down The Line

Aug 25, 2016 | José E. Mosquera
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Decades of civil conflict and the formation of the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be attributed in part to the struggle for land in this Latin American nation. That's why land was one of the most important issues in FARC’s peace negotiations with the government.

In Colombia, this precious resource is concentrated in the hands of a few. Reforms in the past have repeatedly failed. That was the case with President Carlos Lleras Restrepo’s 1936 land law. Same goes for the 1961 measure. That latter law allowed the issue of 123,000 land ownership deeds, which may seem significant except for the fact that land was supposed to be given to about 923,000 families. In 1972, under a pact signed by the administration of President Misael Pastrana, land reforms from the time of Lleras were finally shelved. Instead, land ownership became concentrated into even fewer hands.

Read the full article: Little Talked About, This Issue Can Choke Colombia’s Peace Deal Down The Line 
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