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"Colombian history repeats itself; first as tragedy, then as FARC". The 1948 assassination of the charismatic left-liberal politician, Jorge Gaitn, plunged Colombia into a decade of brutal civil turmoil. This conflict then engendered the rise of anti-state guerrilla movements, and their counter-power, the paramilitaries. After more than half a century of chaos, the green shoots of peace are emerging from the Havana negotiating table; and an end to the morally bankrupt war appears possible. But only if the forces responsible for the violence recognise and rectify their past errors, and only if the social conditions that have fuelled the engine of war are improved. Successful implementation of the peace process can close the long chapter of conflict in Colombian history, and herald in an exciting new age of cultural prosperity.