Military and civilians in the JEP

Attendees at a FARC hearing before the JEP, last June. JEP

Nothing is free.

And less when you think about the appointments that a president makes when he comes to constitute a new government.

Perhaps the best example of this at the dawn of Gustavo Petro's Presidency is the nomination of former magistrate Iván Velásquez as the new Defense Minister.

And it is that much has been said about how the message sent by the appointment of Velásquez is to say no to impunity within the military establishment, but what few anticipate is the capital role that the new minister can play in a new stage of transitional justice applied in Colombia after the agreements between the FARC guerrillas and the Colombian government.

There is no doubt that the majority of Colombians are eagerly waiting for the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) to quickly issue the decisions and sentences that will finally make the former FARC members pay for the many horrors for which they were responsible.

There is no doubt that convictions against the soldiers involved in the lurid extrajudicial executions known as false positives are awaited with the same zeal.

But the key thing is that the work of the magistrates of this jurisdiction will not stop there.

In a few months, Colombia is going to have to look in the mirror because within the work that is coming for the JEP is to advance the processes against military and police officers, as well as civilians, who in one way or another became responsible for atrocious acts committed in the framework of the national internal conflict.

Soon we will see former paramilitary chiefs begin to parade before the JEP to tell how alliances between governments, military and civilians were built to attack the civilian population accused of being auxiliary to the guerrillas.

Soon we will be spectators through the JEP - and in contrast to the transitional justice that was instituted for the demobilization of paramilitary groups - of how unexpected names of politicians allied with paramilitaries are beginning to be known.

Soon we will know details of the companies and businessmen who helped those who massacred entire towns.

Soon we will know how far the military alliance between the military and illegal groups supposedly went to provide security to Colombians.

That is where the new minister Iván Velásquez will have a supreme mission: to ensure that all the secrets that for decades have remained well guarded within the Armed Forces are lifted from the military establishment.

He will be the one who, as head of the military, ensures that the JEP is not an enemy of our soldiers and police, but rather a necessary body for the truth to be known.

It will be he who will have to lead the military by the hand towards the JEP, instead of continuing to see what until now has been a forceful solidarity of the body to prevent everything that happened in the context of the conflict from being known.

Difficult days are ahead for the JEP, since getting involved with the military, powerful politicians and wealthy businessmen will not be an easy path.

Hence, the arrival of Minister Velásquez could be at least a balm in the face of the rain of criticism and sentences that will soon be seen against the court on behalf of a portion of the country that prefers that Colombians continue in the shadows.

Subscribe here