Written by a protagonist of the Colombian peace process and member of the guerilla group 19 April Movement (M-19), this article provides insights into the 1990-94 peace process. The article shows the significance of a political option and the M-19’s decision to disarm during the process (despite the government’s failure to implement agreed measures). This process, and the peace process with other smaller guerilla groups found a privileged institutional channel in the form of the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991. The M-19 was astute in taking advantage of the invaluable opportunity and found a clear echo in the positive attitude of the government’s team, particularly the then Peace Commissioner Rafael Pardo.
The article assesses the success of the model used in this peace process. Although the model included a ‘limited’ agenda as well as very few opportunities for broader public participation in the process, it opened the doors to changes in the political system that can still be felt today. In this sense, it was a process with a mixed legacy: it included constitutional reform, a milestone in the political history of the country, but at the same time it only achieved partial success in terms of genuinely opening and transforming the exclusionary political system.
