The search for negotiated solutions to the conflict

Behind the twists and turns in negotiations for the release of kidnapped politicians held by the FARC, in exchange for the release of imprisoned guerrillas, we have barely glimpsed the interests at stake. Not least, because to agree a prisoner exchange seems to open up the very possibility of dialogue with the guerrilla movement that Uribe’s government has been so strongly against.

Yet the intervention of external political actors has brought about a certain convergence: the support of French president Sarkozy, the backing of some senior US officials and, especially, the role of  Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez as facilitator.

What has been Chávez’s role as mediator in recent weeks? What is the interest of Colombia’s neighbour in supporting a Humanitarian Agreement? Can an agreement work unless it includes the social dimension which is at the root of the conflict? What then are the perspectives for this process?

Tuesday, 20th November 7pm

Apple Tree pub, 45 Mount Pleasant WC1

(Chancery Lane tube 0.4 miles, Farringdon tube 0.4 miles)