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March 29th, 2018 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, on Tuesday, signed a landmark decree that would formalize the land ownership of some 2.5 million Colombian farmers.
Photo courtesy National Police of Colombia.
The decree follows up on the December 2016 peace accord between the State and the now demobilized and disarmed FARC-EP, the guerrilla that after some 52 years of civil war has been succeeded by the political party using the acronym FARC.
The new decree will allow peasants to legalize properties that were bought land that lacked the adequate titles and thus never included in the country’s cadaster. According to Colombian authorities, some 36% of the files of real estate registration have records that were sold under false pretense.
Land ownership, or the lack thereof, has been one of the main causes of armed conflict and violence in Colombia’s countryside for decades. In December 2017 the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) signed the peace accord that would effectively end 52 years of civil war between the State and the FARC-EP.
2013, FARC-EP Chief Negotiator Ivan Marquez insists that the land reform issue could not be taken off the table.
Land reform was one of the key points discussed during negotiations in the Cuban capital Havana before the peace accord could finally be signed. “This decree will contribute to improving the quality of life of rural inhabitants,” said Santos at a ceremony in Sogamoso, a rural community in the Boyaca province. Farmers “will be able to access both property formalization programs led by the national government and judicial bodies to obtain their property title,” Santos added.
Farmers will also be allowed to obtain credit, mortgage their property and pass on holdings to their children. “This … is a fundamental part in the construction of peace. We need all these instruments to put more production in the field,’ said Santos. “This formalization opens the doors for a better future for millions of peasants in Colombia,” he said.
It’s worth noting that land that was acquired through the forced displacement of previous owners can not be formalized. Illegitimate owners of land parcels in indigenous or Afrocolombian territories, and nature reserves will also not be able to legalize property. Informal land ownership and the displacement of impoverished farmers by big land owners and corporations, as well as by cartels, has been a root cause for violence for centuries with more than half of Colombia’s peasants not having an official title to their farm.
A/N – nsnbc 29.03.2018
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2018/03/29/colombian-government-to-formalize-land-rights-of-2-5-million-peasants/
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