Peace Negotiations and the PR Battle in Colombia

Steven Hyland was just in Colombia and blogs about the government's PR messages in favor of the peace negotiations. It's interesting how they specifically target both young and old audiences.

And they're not the only ones with a PR campaign. The FARC also produces professional videos, including this one that looks like any news cast.



The FARC has come a long way. This was just two years ago:

In another break from tradition, the FARC announced its participation in the talks, not through a drab communiqué but by releasing an upbeat music video called "Me voy para La Habana" or "I'm going to Havana." 

The video is pretty basic. It looks and sounds like one of those low-budget MTV productions from the early 1980s. But Colombians were struck by what they saw. Instead of defiant guerrillas with guns, the video shows smiling rebels in fatigues and Che t-shirts playing bongos and rapping about their hopes for peace.

Yay Marxism! Or something like that.

I've not seen any analysis of the PR battle that is going on outside of yet attached to the peace negotiations, but it would be worth studying to determine its impact (or even how the two sides try to gauge its impact). Both are trying to strengthen their position and are tailoring their messages accordingly.