Lessons from Colombia

FOR better and for worse, Colombia is an exception to the rule in Latin America. The third-most-populous country in the region (with 50m people) has seen steady economic growth by eschewing populism, hyperinflation and default. It can claim to be the region’s oldest democracy. Yet its guerrilla wars have lasted half a century, killing more than 220,000 people and displacing 6.5m. Now, at last, the conflict is close to ending (see our ). That matters not just for Colombia, but also for its neighbours and the world.For the past three years the FARC, the biggest of the illegal armies, has been in peace talks with the government of Juan Manuel Santos. Last month produced a breakthrough: an outline accord on “transitional justice”—or the penalties that guerrilla commanders accused of crimes against humanity should face. Having thus agreed on the trickiest item of the six on the agenda, Mr Santos coaxed the FARC into accepting a six-month deadline to wrap up the talks.