After four months of stalemate Colombia's ailing peace process got an unexpected kickstart last week when the guerrilla leader Mr Manuel Marulanda embraced President Andres Pastrana of Colombia and signed a 12-point plan to initiate formal peace talks later this week.
"Now we can begin to build a new Colombia," said President Pastrana, after his third visit to Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) leader Mr Marulanda in a high-risk strategy which has brought stiff opposition from within his own party, from the US government, national opposition parties and from the guerrillas themselves.
The direct talks aim to end 50 years of bloodshed by hammering out an accord which would achieve greater social equality, implement land reform, stimulate popular participation in the democratic process and begin "a frontal attack on corruption". The latter is firmly embedded in every aspect of the nation's political life. Thorny subjects like extradition, war crime tribunals, kidnappings and the future of the nation's police and armed forces will be difficult endgame issues, and observers expect the process to last years rather than months.
President Pastrana and Mr Marulanda have agreed to invite as yet unnamed "personalities" from Spain, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Mexico to form an "international accompaniment commission" which would oversee the process and guarantee a measure of independent international monitoring. The countries were selected on the basis of having previously allowed FARC representatives to set up offices and lobby for their political agenda.
The US government, a crucial partner in the peace process, announced yesterday that it would not tolerate guerrilla control over proposed drug crop eradication programmes, ending speculation on the possibility of a pilot rebelgovernment coca eradication project.
"We will not hand over aid in places where there is no effective state control or presence," said Mr Thomas Umberg, spokesman for the US anti-drug chief, Mr Barry McCaffrey, as he arrived in Bogota last weekend.
In a strong public statement Mr Umberg said that in a choice between anti-narcotics operations and the peace process, the fight to end drug-trafficking came first.
In another significant move last week, 300 police officers launched a surprise attack on a major cocaine-producing operation run by a right-wing paramilitary leader, Mr Carlos Castano, long considered a friend of the army. One of the chief stumbling blocks in the path toward peace has been the reluctance of the Colombian state to dismantle right-wing paramilitary groups who operate with impunity and army collusion throughout the country.
The police raid came a week after Mr Pastrana retired two generals with proven links to paramilitaries, a move which provoked unease among the military.
The process is an enormous gamble on Colombia's future, as foreign investment sags, the economy shrinks and fear pervades most corners of the country.