IEDP Environment Looks at Biofuel Policy in Colombia

In Colombia, biofuel production is a mandate—a 2007 law called for a minimum blend of 10% ethanol (E10) and 5% biodiesel (B5), and the Transmilenio mass transit system in Bogotá has been running on mixtures of between B5 and B50 since then.  Biofuels burn clean and are often seen as part of the solution to overreliance on fossil fuels and climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The Colombian government is also promoting palm plantations as a way to eradicate coca production while providing poor farmers with a lucrative alternative.

However, biofuels have a dark side. Though low-carbon on the tailpipe end, biofuels can actually be a large source of carbon emissions on the production end, if forests are cut down to make way for monoculture palm plantations. In Colombia, these palm plantations have not only displaced carbon, but also people—mostly Afro-Colombian and indigenous people. And with the government aiming to expand the land area used for export crops, including palm oil, to seven million hectares by 2020, these deforestation and land rights issues will only become more acute if not addressed soon.

How can biofuel policy in Colombia promote economic development and climate change mitigation without compromising the environment or human rights? The IEDP environment team has been trying to untangle this issue for the last two months, and on Friday, we’ll present some preliminary ideas to the class. Mike Dwyer, Director of Global Policy Analysis at the Foreign Agricultural Service of USDA, along with biofuel experts Renee Schwartz and Paul Trupo, will join us for an overview of U.S. interests in Colombian biofuel production.

Human Rights in Colombia: Past and Present

On Friday, the IEDP Human Rights group (pictured below) presented an overview of historical and contemporary challenges pertaining to human rights in Colombia. The group presentation was a prelude to a conversation with Moira Birss from Peace Brigades International - an organization that works to assist and advocate for human rights defenders.

The group first overviewed human rights reporting and documentation of human rights abuses and violations by quasi-state and state actors. The group then traced human rights abuses by paramilitaries and left-wing insurgencies, as well as the legal framework that facilitated impunity. In 1994, the demobilization process officially started and culminated in the codification of Law 975 (Justice and Peace Law). The group explored the origins of the law, the resulting procedural and institutional reforms, and enduring problems with human rights and reparations. In this regard, the Colombian truth and reconciliation process was compared to other Latin American initiatives. Finally, the group introduced the historical memory (Memoria Historica) project and emblematic cases.

Moira Birss, as guest speaker, provided further clarification of the nature and history of human rights problems in the country, including land reform and rehabilitation, environmental justice, and economic rights. She highlighted the realities of and challenges for human rights work in Colombia, and the role of the now defunct agencies in impeding progress in this context. Ms. Birss also highlighted the work of NGOs and landmark achievements in human rights advocacy in Colombia.

Human Rights, Truth and Reconciliation in Colombia

Transitioning from our conversation about security imperatives in Colombia, we will be examining human rights issues this week, focusing in particular on the processes for demobilization and reconciliation. Human rights issues in Colombia cut across civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. We will begin by looking at the history of human rights abuses and violations by participants in the violence - paramilitaries, security forces, and rebel groups - and examine emblematic cases such as the Trujillo massacre and the targeting of union leaders.

In 2005, Colombia passed the controversial Justice and Peace Law (Law 975) to strengthen the reparative justice mechanisms within the demobilization process. The landmark legislation created the Comisión Nacional de Reparación y Reconciliación. Paramilitaries, however, continue to use violent tactics, and progress on victims' rights to reparations has been slow. Our discussion will cover the institutional and structural reforms established by the Law, and the problems that have arisen as a result in the truth and reconciliation process. We will discuss, in this context, what Colombia can learn from truth and reconciliation efforts elsewhere. Finally, the Human Rights Group will introduce its research topic - Memoria Historica, a research group and effort that seeks to give voice to the stories of victims and formulate policy proposals for the safeguard of human rights. The creation of a rights-based narrative of the armed conflict is seen as essential to the process of reconciliation and peace in the country.

We will later be joined via Skype by Moira Birss from Peace Brigades International's Colombia team. A Michigan alum, Moira spent two years in Colombia as a Human Rights Accompanier with the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Moira will speak about her experience with human rights organization and provide a general context for human rights work, comparing progress on the issue under Santos regime with the performance of the Uribe administration. The conversation is open to members of the Ford School and University of Michigan community.

"Squeezing the Balloon" in Colombia

Squeezing the Balloon: Applying pressure to one region of Colombia only to see the problem expand and burst in another region.  In this clip, Amb. Melvyn Levitsky discusses how tackling the narcotics problem in Colombia caused potential instability in other regions of the country.

Security and Counternarcotics in Colombia: Group Presentation and Ambassador Levitsky Lecture

For the first round of group presentations for IEDP Colombia, the Security and Counternarcotics group discussed the armed conflict in Colombia that has occurred for decades as well as the drug trade that fuels it.  The group briefly discussed the history of the armed conflict from "La Violencia" in the 1940's and 1950's to the formation of the leftist guerilla groups such as the FARC and ELC, and the opposing paramilitary groups.  The group also discussed the incorporation of the drug trade including the Medellin and Cali drug cartels.  It described how Plan Colombia was a U.S.-funded initiative to eliminate illicit narcotics and guerilla groups in Colombia and the results of the initiative.  Lastly, the group introduced recent Colombian presidential administrations and their policies toward security and counternarcotics in Colombia.

The Security and Counternarcotics group was especially thankful to have the Ford School's own Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky add to the discussion in the later half of the session.  A former ambassador to Bulgaria and Brazil and Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, Amb. Levitsky is the resident expert on counternarcotics policy in Colombia.  In addition to his commentary on security and counternarcotics issues including the drug production cycle, drug-control tactics (including interdiction, eradication, demand side, and alternative development), and major developments in drug control in Colombia, he also provided parallels to counternarcotics issues in Afghanistan, Mexico, Peru, and other regions, and open the lecture for discussion.

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In his presentation on Colombia's drug trade on January 27, 2012, Ambassador Levitsky included interesting details on the cocaine production cycle and trends in trafficking across Latin America over time. The class engaged in an interesting discussion of policy options, including alternative development.

Security in Colombia

This week we will be discussing security and counternarcotics issues in Colombia. We will be focusing on guerilla and paramilitary groups in Colombia (FARC, ELN, and AUC) and how they affect the security climate in Colombia.  We will also briefly discuss U.S. policy toward these groups in Colombia and the U.S. government's partnership with the government of Colombia in combating these groups and the illicit drug market. They key difference between the two kinds of groups are that guerilla groups are left-wing and aim to overthrow the government while paramilitary groups counter the guerilla groups, but still present a threat to noncombatants.

Over the years, there have been a number of peace talks between the various groups (especially the FARC) and the government of Colombia.  Most of them have failed, but the recent killing of the FARC leader Alfonso Cano potentially puts them in more of a position to negotiate terms with the government.

Progress in the ongoing conflict

Cynthia Arnson

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Cynthia Arnson joined us via Skype for our second class session on Friday. The director of the Center's Latin American Program, Arnson is an expert on democratic governance, conflict resolution and U.S. foreign policy in the western hemisphere. She offered us her perspective on the legacy of U.S.-Colombian relations.

Then-Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the White House, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, sounded the alarm on Colombia's exploding drug trade in the early 1990s, helping to inspire what would become Plan Colombia. When negotiations with the FARC broke down, policymakers shifted their strategy to tackle counterinsurgency and counter-narcotics efforts at the same time.

Fast forward to today: Colombia has had some major successes, but there is a lot of work yet to be done. Drug trafficking and processing operations are still thriving, and breakout criminal groups are taking the place of former paramilitaries. Many Colombian politicians and businessmen are also facing charges of having close ties to the paramilitaries, and corruption still poses a major obstacle to some social, security and government reform efforts.

But Arnson was optimistic about President Santos' willingness to tackle some of the biggest ongoing problems, including persistent poverty and inequality, accusations of human rights abuses, and the restitution of land and payment of reparations to victims of the conflict. U.S. aid is down from what it once was, but remains an important part of Colombian efforts to end the ongoing conflict. Improved relations with neighbors Ecuador and Venezuela have also been very important.