President Juan Manuel Santos said that Colombia is hoping to end an almost 50-year conflict with the rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces ofColombia (FARC), according to a New York Times article. The FARC is classified as a terrorist group by both the Colombian government andthe United States and has been trafficking drugs and terrorizing Colombia fordecades.

The conflict with FARChas been a problem since the 1960s, and previous attempts to resolve the issue failed.In the 1990s, then Colombia President Andrès Pastrana held talks with the FARCfor years and granted them sanctuary in a southern jungle, but the group used the area as training grounds, and drug trafficking continued.

Some hope that past mistakes will not be repeated, and Colombia's military will occupythe nation’s entire territory. Progress has already been made since the FARChas grown weaker in the past decade as a result of United States' involvement.The FARC's numbers have decreased from 17,000 in the 1990s to about 9,000 in2012. 

An agreement for peace talks(but not a cease-fire) was signed on Aug. 27 between Colombia and FARC. Talks are scheduled to begin in Norway in October, according to a Time article.

A Sept. 4 statement from the White House said that the preliminary agreement was a “milestone,” and FARC should “take this opportunity to end its decades ofterrorism and narcotics trafficking.”

Colombiaguarantees the freedom of the press in their 1991 constitution. But, according to Freedom House, heavilyarmed conflict between guerrilla organizations, drug traffickers,paramilitary groups and government forces has created deadly problems for journalists.

In 2002, paramilitary groupsand political rebels targeted the press and journalists faced violent threats. Eight journalists were murdered in 2001 alone. In its annual reports, Freedom House classified thepress status as “partly free” in 2002 but downgraded the status to “not free” in 2003. This decline was adirect result of the high number of violent acts toward journalists, which stemmed from theconflict between the government and rebel groups (like the FARC).

During the past decade,significant progress has been made in improving press freedom, according to Freedom House. In 2011, 27criminal inquiries concerning murders of journalists were reopened, and important discoveries changed the course of 14 cases. President Santos took office in August 2011 and said that 170 reporters had government protection. Healso made a promise that Colombia would make progress concerning freedom of expression.

The CPJ Impunity Index (2002– 2011) ranked Colombia at No. 5 for highest number of unsolved journalist murders, behind Sri Lanka, Philippines, Somalia and Iraq. Although the situation hasbeen improving since 2008, 40 murderedjournalists (8 of which are unsolved cases) have occurred in the past decade.

In the Colombia JournalismReview, Justin D. Martin said that it was common for journalists inColombia to be killed every few months. But since 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported that two journalists have been murdered. According to Martin, currently it’s less likely for ajournalist to be killed in Colombia. He also said that although journalists usedto be victims, they still face dangers but are part of the “country’sbroader momentum” toward improvement. 

Martin believes that “bravejournalism” deserves credit for the country’s progress in recent years inregards to tourism, foreign direct investment, living standards and thegovernment’s growing desire to end conflict with guerrilla groups.