Voices and skeptical looks at the Colombian Peace Agreement

Abstract

This article displays the outcomes of the project "The process of reincorporation of ex-combatants in Colombia: A look from the political movements in opposition" during the years 2020-2021 by the Research group of Ex-combatants, Conflicts, and Civility of the University of Caldas, Colombia. The project set out to listen and understand the perceptions about the reintegration process of former FARC-EP combatants, in the speeches of three people declared in open opposition to the Peace Agreement previously signed in Colombia.

Lesson analysis from a socio-dialogical perspective, inspired by the approaches of María Cristina Martínez (2005), was the guiding method. The guiding question was: What images about the reincorporation process of former FARC-EP combatants were constructed from the political speeches of opposition to the Peace Agreement? For that the analysis of three types of statements was made: the constructed image of ex-combatants - Of themselves as citizens and of the reincorporation process.

We find that the historical armed confrontation fixes the image of the other as an enemy carrier of evil. Listening is revealed as a democratic and investigative virtue, in this sense, listening and discourse analysis are methodological tools and powerful keys to deepening democracy.