Agencia Moral y Construcción de Paz

In two previous attempts at peace negotiations, as now, the governments of Belisario Betancurt (1982-1986) and Andrés Pastrana Arango (1998-2002) positioned themselves as mediators of the relations between the actors in the conflict and civil society. Subsequently, in both cases, a strengthening of the extreme right was evidenced, leading to the Genocide of the Patriotic Union, and to the strengthening of paramilitarism and the highest numbers of forced displacement in Colombia's history. In both cases, one possible explanation for the failure has to do with the inability of these governments to align the whole of society with their objectives. After the last negotiation process undertaken by the government of Juan Manuel Santos (2012-2016) with the guerrilla of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the Colombian government and society are once again faced with the challenge of gathering sufficient support to achieve a successful implementation of the agreements reached. The recent results of the Plebiscite for Peace (October 2016) and the increase since 2016 in the assassinations of left-wing leaders show that the challenge remains. One aspect to consider is that the involvement of the population in the peacebuilding process depends on the existence of a process of moral reflection. When this is not the case, moral disconnection contributes to the population's rejection of reparation policies and the emergence of destructive behaviors that threaten the process. This paper explores the existence of indicators of moral disconnection and some of its predictive factors, as well as its relationship to support for the peace accords between the government and the FARC.