Identidades in English No 4, December 2014 | Page 121

tween the Cuban and U.S. governments have intensified since Havana became the site for the
peace process with the FARC. In addition, one
should consider that the solution to the bilateral
conflict between Colombia and Venezuela would
not have happened without Cuba’s excellent intermediation.
The Colombian-Cuban dynamic can be described
briefly through a fictitious but realistic dialogue.
So, Colombia starts by expressing the following
to Cuba: “Help yourself by reforming your political and economic system, put out a good image,
guarantee an effective execution of my peace process with the FARC so that it ends with a successful agreement, which will give you greater
visibility. That way, we can work together with
the neighbors, and intercede more intensely for
you on the international scene.” With a mildly
authoritarian tone, Cuba answers: “I am the one
that makes the decisions, but I’ll consider those
recommendations. You, too, should help yourself
by being patient with the process, so there is no
mass uprising; be more understanding with my
FARC comrades, because the efficiency of my
collaboration greatly depends on that.”
In all likelihood, Colombia and Cuba are following the right path to achieve their national goals,
but there is clearly a long way to go to achieve
their own peace: peace that goes beyond merely
solving the controversies generated by conflicts,
to effectively guarantee the exercise and protection of human rights.
Colombia continues enduring the scourge of internal armed conflict that has kept it from being
at peace with itself for more than 50 years, even
as changing executive leadership has attempted to
maintain good relations with other countries.
This is currently yielding positive results, as there
is great international support for the peace process.
Such support is motivated by the implementation
of a Transitional Justice model, among other
things.
Despite its ambitious rhetoric about truth, justice,
reparation and a guarantee that the situation
would never happen again, the model has not

managed to satisfy the demands of many Colombians, among them victims who have felt excluded and unprotected by a government that has
repeatedly excluded important actors from participating in issues that involve them. Victims have
had limited participation in the peace process,
which strengthens skepticism, prolongs resentment and causes one to question Columbia's commitment to human rights.
In Cuba, the case is paradoxical, as the attempt to
fortify its reputation as an “agent of peace” on
the international scene is not at all in keeping with
its one-party system of politics and law. Indeed,
the Cuban government excludes the applicability
of democratic clauses instituted internationally so
that States can function in accordance with respect for human rights, basic freedoms, access to
power and its exercise under a State of Law, as
well as the holding of periodic, free, fair elections
based on universal suffrage; a system of multiple
parties and political organizations, and the separation and independence of public powers. No,
Cuba is not at peace with itself because its form
of government prevents the open participation of
civil society as a system based upon the supremacy of the State’s power over human rights, which
are often made more vulnerable by the regime’s
arbitrary actions.
One should recall that convenient permissiveness, an element of Tropical Peace, is the primary
axis for relations between Latin American governments. If a peace agreement that permits an
end to one of the longest internal conflicts in the
history of the Americas comes about, not only
Colombia, but all the countries of Latin America
will try to convince the United States that it must
abandon its stubbornness, overcome its paralysis
with Cuba, and stop calling it a “State that sponsors terrorism.”
The pressure is ever greater and, as has become
habitual, the Summit of the Americas will once
again be the platform that advocates for Cuba’s
participation in the region. Many Latin American
countries have conditioned their attendance at the
next Summit, to be convened in Panama in May
2015, on Cuba’s real participation. Indeed, a

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