One-on-One with U.S. Special Envoy Bernie Aronson

By Pat Paterson and Anastasia Sendoun

On June 1, 2016, U.S. Special Envoy to the Colombian Peace Accords, Mr. Bernie Aronson, visited the William J. Perry Center to share his insights into the negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Mr. Aronson served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs from 1989 until 1993. During that time, he helped negotiate the end of the civil war in El Salvador between rebel groups and the Salvadoran government. On February 20, 2015, at the request of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, he was selected by President Obama to serve as the U.S. Special Envoy to the Colombian Peace Process.1

Peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government began in September 2012. The two sides in Havana negotiated solutions to difficult obstacles including land reform, the political rights of insurgents, ending the FARC’s role in drug production and trafficking, reparations for victims, and trans