ABSTRACT
The Havana peace talks created an exceptional political opening favorable for distributive change that materialized in the agenda items the government and the FARC agreed on in August 2012 as a result of the secret phase of the negotiations. This chapter analyzes how and why the rural development item was included as part of that agenda and examines the underlying motivations and restrictions of each side regarding this item. The chapter argues that, amid their ideological differences and justifications of this issue, the parties reached in the agenda a common frame on how to address the rural development item in the peace talks, thus laying out the foundations of the provisions discussed during the formal round of the talks. From the FARC’s perspective, this item meant that the negotiations would deal with one of their key historical demands—agrarian reform. For the government, it helped maintaining the FARC on board during the negotiation but also pointed to the key strategic goal of the peace talks: come up with transformative provisions to ensure the non-repetition of the conflict. Adopting a constructivist perspective, the chapter shows how this common frame was possible only because in each delegation actors with decision-making capacity mobilized ideas and norms that persuaded their organizations of this course of action. The chapter also highlights how these norms on rural change held by the political elites became politically viable insofar there was a context of social mobilization and expert consensus that supported them. Yet, it also accounts for the limitations that the government itself had with regards to the scope of what was discussable in this item, which had to do mainly with the political and economic outlook and restrictions of Santos’s power.
