By Cameron Parsons (’14)

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos embarks this month on a highly anticipated round of peace negotiations with the FARC—a guerilla organization once considered the world’s most ruthless and potent. However, a decade of targeted military operations has left the group fractured, and the relentless sounds of gunfire have been replaced by a chorus of trade and tourism on the streets of Bogota.
But is the picture as rosy as the Santos administration would like the global audience to believe?

As Cameron Parsons (’14) reports, the FARC might be broken but they have been replaced, and the newcomers continue to wreak terror in the countryside. All might not yet be well in Colombia.

Rauda Morcos breaks boundaries. Born and raised in a Palestinian Village inside Israel, Morcos is a feminist activist for LGBTQI rights and Palestinian nationalism. In this interview she discusses her introduction to activism through underground gay scenes, as well as the creation of Aswat, a grassroots group of Arab lesbians that fights for recognition and rights in their communities.