Present Report

Interview with César Gutiérrez Bravo
Consultant to the Colombian Interior and Justice Ministry Program for a Return to Civilian Life
October 28, 2005

1. What does the Program for a Return to Civilian Life (PRCL) entail?
Through the PRCL, the national government offers a series of benefits to combatants of illegal armed groups who courageously decide to lay down their arms. We now receive people from all the groups. Basically, there are two types of demobilization. One is individual; that is, the person who leaves the group voluntarily. The other is collective. In this case, combatants enter the program as a group, through the peace agreements signed in Ralito.

2. Which aspects of the PRCL are the responsibility of the central government and which pertain to the regional administrations?
The central government is responsible for the policy on return to civilian life, including negotiations with illegal armed groups in Colombia, and the guarantees that are necessary for their effective reinstatement as civilians. For example, space has to be found in the health sector for those who enter the program. There are arrangements to be made with local government administrations for a place in the school system and opportunities for training. Those who are admitted to the program also need assistance to develop income-earning projects and help in processing the necessary legal documents for their return to civilian life. This includes an identity card, a judicial certificate and a military card. Local governments are responsible for coordinating these initiatives and involving PRCL beneficiaries in the psychological and social services that are available at the municipal and departmental level, and in cultural and recreational activities. A number of mayors and governors have helped with proposals for involving the program's beneficiaries in community work and income-earning activities in their cities and towns.

3. What are the criteria for establishing regional offices or Opportunity Referral Centers (ORC)?
These depend primarily on where most of the demobilized are located. We have had six major centers: one in Cúcuta, following demobilization of the Catatumbo Bloc, which included nearly 1,500 men, another in Montería for the entire Cordoba area and northern Antioquia, due to the negotiations in Ralito, and one in Sincelejo, because of the percentage who head to the northern part of the country. There also is a facility in Uraba, which serves the AUC bloc in the banana-growing region, one in Medellín for the nearly 3,000 demobilized individuals in that area, and another in the Cauca Valley, where the Calima and Pacífico blocs operated.

An ORC was established here in Bogotá because the number of demobilized individuals is high. The mobile ORCs are another option we use. These are teams of professionals who travel to different parts in the country where it is not feasible to set up a permanent CRO. In these cases, an invitation is sent out urging people from the entire region to attend a meeting at a town in Cesar. The objective is to find solutions and to discuss their expectations, as well as the benefits the government has agreed to provide.

4. Why are there no group demobilization programs in Bogotá?
There are very few demobilized groups in Bogotá and they are free to live where they wish. However, there is a specific task as far as these groups are concerned: they demobilize entirely; that is, with the commander and the entrepreneurs from the region. They also have an opportunity to remain in the area where they are from. Naturally, most of them are not from Bogotá. We have only 50 groups here in the city.

A program to handle demobilized groups in Bogotá might be set up, if and when the Central Bolívar Bloc demobilizes and we have a growing number of groups. This band currently operates in Bogotá and in 10 departments. Demobilized groups are unique in the sense that they generally remain in their region of origin, go home, or stay in the area and build a new life as law-abiding citizens.

5. What benefits does the PRCL offer?
The PRCL offers psychological and social services in every segment of the program: education, employment, project development and community relations. For us, the psychological component is crucial, as are the educational and training areas. These are the fundamental values, or the added-value we offer, since we have found that 15% of the demobilized are illiterate and 40% are functionally illiterate. This implies very low levels of schooling.

As to health care, many PRCL beneficiaries belong to the contributive system and others are affiliated with SISBEN. In conjunction with municipal administrations and the Ministry for Social Protection, we are looking for ways to provide health insurance to these individuals and their families.

Those who are admitted to the program also receive humanitarian aid, which consists of a monthly stipend or allowance provided to beneficiaries who can prove they are studying or holding down a job. This contributes to their independence and helps them to acquire and agree on responsibilities.

6. In terms of participation in the economy or an income-earning activity, what do the PRCL programs offer?
There are two types of assistance. Individual reinstatement involves coaching, guidance and training to develop personal or individual projects for earning an income. We supply a small amount of start-up capital to get them going. So far, we have provided seed money for 1,717 individual income-earning projects and are monitoring their effectiveness. Setting up a business in Colombia is no easy task, but we hope to offer as much follow-up as possible. We want to know how many of these young people achieve their goal of becoming entrepreneurs and which ones need help in terms of a job or occupation.

As to employment, not everyone is cut out for business. Therefore, we are working with the private sector and several job programs in the public sector, particularly to find employment opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled workers.

The same approach is used with the demobilized groups, but it is much easier to keep track of their whereabouts. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) offers guidance and coaching in this respect and we have an agreement with the National Police to hire 2,000 PRCL beneficiaries, particularly in December and throughout the year or more, if possible, for highway surveillance, manual eradication of illicit crops, directing traffic in municipal areas, clearing mine fields and working as forest rangers. We also have received offers from the Civil Defense to have PRCL beneficiaries perform these occupations in connection with income-earning projects and macro-projects. More than 70% of those participating in the program are under 25 years of age. So, it is our responsibility to help them find long-term solutions for earning a living, ones that will eliminate any option or temptation to take up arms again.

7. How sustainable are these programs in the medium and long term? Are they a genuine guarantee of future economic independence for those who return to civilian life?

The group projects are being monitored, with every possible guarantee. This process is based at the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and involves the Agrarian Bank and FINAGRO. We follow up on all income-earning projects, with the help and cooperation of businessmen in the region and in connection with the regional development plans. These are projects the regions have been analyzing and developing. And, we believe the program can contribute in this respect.

Our experience with demobilized individuals has shown the need for more exhaustive monitoring and follow-up. Accordingly, a number of production and service companies (car-wash businesses, flower growers, poultry, livestock, cattle and dairy farms) have agreed to employ our beneficiaries in the production chain and to coach and assist them for three years. This, of course, depends on each company.

In other words, if the beneficiary's income-earning project involves milk production with cows in a specific region, the people in the local dairy business have agreed to purchase these products at the best price for at least three years and to provide monitoring, technical assistance and visits. This gives us some reassurance, since the government covers them for an 18-month period, which can be extended to 24, depending on behavior. After leaving the program, it is very important that they be accepted and incorporated into the private sector and the community.

8. Mayors in a number of regions have devised job programs for the demobilized. Which ones are the most viable and offer the best prospects on a long-term basis?
There are many interesting programs for regional development. The crucial factor is the different set of circumstances and needs in the field. For example, the town of Sincelejo has a problem with overflowing creeks and the mayor has asked for help in preventing this from happening, so as to make proper use of local irrigation canals. This is an area where we can become involved. In Montería, there is the issue of auxiliary personnel to help direct traffic and control crowds at public events. The idea is to relieve some of the burden on the local police. When there is a concert, nearly 200 policemen are required. This leaves the city almost unprotected. We provide young men from the program who are trained to oversee these kinds of events, and there have been absolutely no problems. This also generates confidence within the city.

A new program known as Green Hearts was started in the city of Yopal on October 1. It even employs two PRCL beneficiaries who are disabled. We have high hopes for this initiative, inasmuch as the others were started as initial solutions based on specific needs in the participating cities at a particular point in time. Green Hearts, in contrast, is a recycling plan; that is, a way to earn an income from garbage collection. We consider it important and are betting on it to succeed.

9. Could you describe the program for civic assistants who help with coexistence and public safety?
The program for civic assistants who promote coexistence and public safety has two avenues. The first is the private sector. These people clearly have a competitive advantage, since they are familiar with security issues. Our job is to guarantee security without weapons, security that gives them the tools to meet these expectations. The idea is for them to report theft, as opposed to participating in it.

We are approaching this issue through teacher training, or what we call "training the trainers". In fact, we are attending a leadership workshop in the city of Cúcuta with the people who teach these individuals. We believe in the importance of heightening public awareness and receptiveness, and have designed a special course with the Superintendent of Surveillance and Security. What we want are not better security guards, but personnel who have become better people as a result of these courses. This is very important. They must learn to respect the law, the hours, and the chain of command, without weapons. And, they must learn to provide good customer service. So, to accomplish this, we begin by training the teachers. Then, we train the beneficiaries in the psychological and social aspects of job interviews and in dealing with the public. Thirdly, we are developing a special program to be applied in the private sector. The fourth step involves cooperation with private companies in order to find a place for these young people in the security sector.

We also have an initiative with law enforcement authorities to hire as many men as possible to work as civic assistants on security and coexistence. We call this compensatory community service, because the philosophy of the program is that these individuals, who were part of the conflict, need to make up for what they have done. The Justice and Peace Act is designed to bring them back into society and, to some extent, we believe this is why their work in clearing mine fields and eradicating illicit crops is so important. Also, with their cooperation, we have prevented 30 tons of explosives from entering Bogotá, extradited individuals such as Simón Trinidad and Sonia, and conducted operations that led to caches of money, weapons and drugs. Consequently, as civic auxiliary personnel for security, they will work effectively for the benefit of the community. In short, the program's philosophy is to help them make amends and become part of civil society by cooperating with law enforcement, but only as auxiliary personnel.

10. In what parts of the country do you plan to implement this program?
The project has several stages. The first involves Bogotá and is underway already. The second focuses on Valle, Norte de Santander, Antioquia, Córdoba and Bogotá. There is a third stage, which we are in the process of designing and evaluating. It will include the Nariño, Cauca and Sucre regions, part of the north coast, and perhaps some of the Llanos Orientales (Eastern Plains).

11. Do you have a message for the public about the process to return former combatants to civilian life?
It is everyone's job and everyone's commitment. What we do is to look for opportunities. These human beings have found the courage to lay down their arms and to attempt to build a life for themselves on our side. Let us receive them. Let us give them advice, be receptive and work together with the national government to implement proposals that are permanent and sustainable over time, proposals that will enable them to become productive members of civil society from a cultural, social and political standpoint.