Following Jose Miguel Sokoloff's talk on using marketing to demobilise guerillas in Columbia, peace negotiator Frank Pearl took to the WIRED 2015 stage to reveal how ex-FARC members are re-integrated into society.
While Sokoloff's work let guerillas know they could go home, Pearl's job was to get them there. Since 2009, Pearl has been developing ways to bring people back into the wider world. FARC has officially been "at the table" since 2013, and members from other renegade groups have been involved since last year.
But in a country which has long-term, wide-spread land conflicts, and a populace accustomed to violence, the problem with re-integration is two-fold. Not only are the former combatants coming from a desperate, brutal lifestyle, but the deeply family-oriented people of Columbia -- some of whom will have lost members to FARC actions -- may have vengeance on their minds. These are communities in need of healing, and Pearl's medicines of choice are art, music, and sport.
By: Matt Kamen,
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