‘This is not legitimate peace’: the political discourse of the Colombian armed forces on the agreement with the FARC-EP

Abstract

ABSTRACT The following paper analyzes the political discourse of several generals of the Colombian Military Forces in relation to the Peace Agreement signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces– People’s Army (FARCEP) guerrilla, in November 2016. To this effect, and given the legal limitations to make public statements, eleven retired generals of the Armed Forces were interviewed on this matter. All of them held positions of responsibility during the presidencies of Álvaro Uribe (2002–2010) and Juan Manuel Santos (2010–2018). Thus, three dimensions– the peace talks process, Agreement implementation and stakeholder commitment– and eleven factors (impunity, criminalization of the Armed Forces, politicization of justice, among others) were identified, analysed and discussed based on their different accounts. Hence, this study reveals a position on the part of the senior military establishment that clearly questions the legitimacy of the Peace Agreement, both in its origin and in its exercise, thus contributing to a prevailing position of mistrust and scepticism towards the instrument that put an end to five decades of armed conflict with the most important guerrilla group in Colombia’s history.