Slow Progress on Colombia’s Land Reform Efforts Stalls Hopes for Peace and Stability

President Gustavo Petro’s goal of redistributing land in Colombia—an issue central to the 2016 peace agreement between the government and the FARC rebels—will remain challenging for the nation’s first leftist president due to unfulfilled goals. At first, the government pledged to purchase 3 million hectares for the conflict IDPs but it has been decreasing the targets as it continues to face several issues, the process of reconciliation in the South American country can be very intricate.

Progress Over Challenges

About 1 million acres of land has been bought by the National Land Agency for about $600 million since Petro came to office, making a huge difference to the previous acquisition of just 45,000 acres. The government has also formalized ownership of 3.2 million acres, with an additional 1.2 million acres pending by year-end. Nevertheless, it remains still slow due to officials’ bureaucracy and budget limitations that slow down the process, which is why the focus is made on vacant lots and other properties belonging to criminals.

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Victims’ Struggles Continue

However, for many displaced Colombians, this remains a waiting game even in the wake of change. Some farmers such as Monteria are happy that they will regain the use of 20 800 acres of land that was used by the former paramilitary, while others like Jose Martinez have not been resettled for the past 18 years. The rather cumbersome reparations arrangements that ask the Victims Unit to first transfer seized property into cash before disbursal only add to the mix, making it difficult for many victims to endure the slow pace of change.