Senior Program Officer Jonathan Morgenstein and former USIP Senior Program Officer Ray Caldwell conducted the first of three workshops in Cucuta, Colombia from February 22-25, 2007. Cucuta is the capital of the Department of Norte de Santander and sits on the river border with Venezuela. It has been a zone of significant conflict and tensions in the past with one of the country's largest per-capita population of demobilized paramilitaries, a large number of internally displaced persons, and significant FARC activity.
Senior Program Officer Jonathan Morgenstein and former USIP Senior Program Officer Ray Caldwell conducted the first of three workshops in Cucuta, Colombia from February 22-25, 2007. Cucuta is the capital of the Department of Norte de Santander and sits on the river border with Venezuela. It has been a zone of significant conflict and tensions in the past with one of the country's largest per-capita population of demobilized paramilitaries, a large number of internally displaced persons, and significant FARC activity. Pipelines from some of Colombia's largest oil fields pass through the region. The northern segment of Norte de Santander is one of Colombia's most fertile cocaine cultivation regions.
Jonathan and Ray are collaborating with a Colombian non-governmental organization called Corporacion Escuela Galan to conduct a program in Long-Term Conflict Resolution Capacity-Building. USIP and CEG gathered together 35 influential leaders from multiple sectors of Cucuta's society. Representatives from the education sector, local NGOs, journalists, labor unions, civilian government, the security sector (including both police and army), business groups and the church (both Protestant evangelical and the Catholic church) all gathered together with the objective of building skills and relationships needed to reduce tensions and violence in Cucuta. One-third of the participants were women, including a police officer.
The participants are conducting projects between the follow-on workshops (in July and November), allowing them to practice in the real world the conflict analysis and mitigation skills they are developing in the classroom environment. If all goes well, by the end of the third workshop, they will feel comfortable enough to call on each other any time threats of violence arise within or between communities.
