Colombia: peace or justice? Reflection on what is at stake in these elections.

In Venezuela, on February 4, 1992, a group of soldiers carried out a coup d'etat against the then President Carlos Andrés Pérez. The coup failed, but left 32 people killed according to official data. After this, on November 27 of the same year, another coup d'état was carried out against Carlos Andrés Pérez, which is also unsuccessful, leaving according to official figures 142 deceased persons, although the unofficial ones point to 300. Both events were propitiated because of the complicated political and economic situation in which Venezuela was after the austerity measures taken by Carlos Andrés Pérez, which were the trigger for El Caracazo in 1989.

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, who was the leader of the coup on February 4 and who also influenced the coup on November 27, was imprisoned after the first attempted coup, however, on March 26, 1994, he was released. Certainly, it was a dismissal of then President Caldera that gives him the freedom, but Caldera does it because it was politically correct for the moment, as the whole society, including the recent presidential candidates, the media and society in general demanded it. All were accomplices. The result of this is that 4 years later, instead of being serving a sentence for the crimes he committed, Chávez comes to power not through violence but through politics, with the support of different sectors of society, including business associations and media.

Chavez was not sentenced to prison because it was not convenient politically. Justice was not applied to achieve some stability. Where is Venezuela today? What results did it bring us to sacrifice justice in exchange for a momentary peace? The truth is that Venezuela today is a country that is convulsing and is in a much worse political and economic situation than the one that served as an excuse for Chávez to commit the crimes for which he was not tried.

The FARC, like Chávez, are leftists who tried to take political power by violence. In the name of their revolutionary ideals, they have committed crimes such as drug trafficking, homicide, kidnappings, violations of both adults and minors, etc. However, thanks to the peace agreements, they will not be judged for their crimes and will be able to participate in the political life of Colombia. What they could not achieve through violence will now be achieved through political means and with the complicity of the system and society, exactly as it happened in Venezuela.

The real candidate of the FARC is Petro, a former member of a leftist guerrilla. If you sacrifice justice in exchange for peace, that peace will not be lasting. Today Colombia decides whether or not to sacrifice justice for nothing.