Key figure in Colombia's peace talks to speak at New College

SARASTOA -- Frank Pearl González was a key figure in peace talks that are close to ending a half-century of violence in Colombia, helping reach initial agreements between the Colombian government and the left-wing guerrilla movement FARC in 2012.

The economist and Colombia's former high Commissioner for Peace will discuss an updated account of "Peace Negotiations Taking Place in Colombia with Guerrilla Movements" in a New Topics lecture at New College of Florida on Monday.

Pearl González served Colombia's presidential administration for six years, spanning two separate presidential administrations. He was the first Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development under Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, the 1st High Presidential Advisor for the Social and Economic Reintegration of People and Groups and High Commissioner for Peace under Álvaro Uribe Vélez.

Over the last 50 years, civil conflict in Colombia has left more than 220,000 dead and 5.7 million displaced. The dispute is a major barrier to Colombia's fastest-growing big economy in the region and its progress towards its least violent year in three decades.

FARC is the oldest and largest group of Colombia's left-wing rebels and one of the richest guerrilla armies in the world. The reopening of peace negotiations between FARC and the Colombian government has the potential to end the hemisphere's longest-running armed conflict.

The talk is at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 30, in the Mildred Sainer Pavilion on the Caples Campus of New College, 5313 Bay Shore Road (just south of the Ringling Museum). Tickets can be reserved online at donate.ncf.edu/events or by calling 487-4888.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Key figure in Colombia's peace talks to speak at New College ."