In a conversation with Dr Annette Idler, Mr Villalobos will share his experience as guerrilla leader and the motivations for engaging in peace negotiations with the Salvadorian government. Discussing the challenges the guerrillas faced during the process that led to the signing of the peace agreement, he will reflect on lessons for solving contemporary armed conflicts that involve violent non-state groups as well as on negotiations with gangs in Central America today.

Joaquín Villalobos is the former leader of the Salvadorian guerrilla People's Revolutionary Army and later became one of the main military strategists of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front.He is signatory of the peace agreement of El Salvador which was signed in Mexico in 1992. Joaquin is member of the Inter-American Dialogue, Washington, the Friends of the Interamerican Democratic Charter of the Carter Center, and the Advisory Council of the first UNDP Report on Citizen Security. He works as a consultant on conflict in Sri Lanka, Philippines, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Colombia. He is the former security adviser to the Mexican government and currently adviser to the Colombian government on the peace process, as well as to “Inter-Mediate” a London-based conflict mediation NGO led by Jonathan Powell.