By Peter Sullivan
On October 26, municipal elections were held in Colombia. The international media were at pains to convince the world that Colombia's bipartisan political system was one of the most advanced "democracies" in Latin America. The elections, with an expected 53% abstention rate, were considered a triumph of "democracy" over the armed boycott declared by the guerillas.
Both the media and the Liberal government of Ernesto Samper were trying to convince the international community that Columbia could hold "democratic" elections. This is a country submerged in a bloody civil war that has taken the lives of tens of thousands of people in the last 10 years, and produced 1 million refugees, massive poverty and inequality.
The government is notorious for human rights violations and corruption, accused of having financed its presidential election campaign with money from the Cali drug cartel.
Two weeks before the election, 1300 candidates had already stepped down after receiving death threats, 33 had been murdered and 200 kidnapped.
From the beginning, it was clear that left-wing candidates opposing the two-party system of Conservatives and Liberals didn't stand a chance in the face of repression and threats. As a result of organised right-wing and state terror, the left did worse than in previous elections.
Four leading members of the largest left party, the Union Patriotica (UP), were forced to seek exile in Europe. This electoral front has had more than 1000 of its militants killed since forming in 1985. A failed bomb attack took place against the headquarters of the UP in Bogotá. It took tremendous courage for the left to participate at all.
The government, to fight abstention, announced that citizens who voted would receive preference and a fee discount of 10% when entering university, would have their period of military service reduced and would be "preselected" for jobs in the public sector over those who hadn't.
In some areas of the country, town mayors were elected with two or three votes in populations of several thousand; children under 12 were being taken to vote; armed soldiers went house by house carrying the ballot box to "convince" people to vote.
In towns where nobody turned up to vote, tens of votes mysteriously appeared in the ballot box in favour of the local Liberal or Conservative candidates.
The government held a concurrent referendum seeking support for a peace proposal which included social justice and respect for human rights. In order to inflate participation in the elections, it mixed together people who turned up for the elections and the referendum, when in fact many people who didn't want to vote in the elections did want to show their support for peace.
"Peace-loving" organisations such as various petroleum multinationals and rancher organisations which finance death squads and the dirty war generously contributed large sums for the organisation of the referendum.
Both the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, the two main guerilla organisations, with 13,000 and 5000 fighters respectively, called for a boycott.
The Simon Bolivar Guerilla Coordinating Committee, which represents both these organisations, in its 1993 conference approved a document in which it clearly spells out its conditions for a peace settlement.
It calls for an immediate cease-fire and the demilitarisation of a substantial part of the country as a necessary step to any talks. Then, it proposes democratic elections under the auspices of an international body and with full guaranties for the opposition parties, to elect a constituent assembly. This would make way for a transitional government of national reconciliation and reconstruction to be formed.
Such a government would implement, amongst other things, a thorough reform of the armed forces, a genuine land reform, and a reform of the police and judicial system. It would allocate 50% of the national budget for much needed social services, reassess and renegotiate all contracts with the big energy multinationals and seek a genuine solution, based on cooperation with community organisations and the international community, for the problem of drug production and trafficking.
The oligarchy is now preparing for another round of "democratic" elections for the Legislative Assembly and the new president in 1998. With the ruling Liberal Party divided into three main factions over the issue of peace, and each of them standing a presidential candidate, these will surely prove interesting.