Columbia’s President and the Search for Peace

On October 7, 2016 the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Columbia’s president, Juan Manual Santos had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring an end to his country’s bloody civil war that had claimed 220,000 lives.

However, just five days before, on October 2, the country voted in a referendum to reject the peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, FARC. In awarding the prize, the Norwegians noted the decision of the referendum, but stated that it felt that the people were rejecting a particular deal, and not the peace process itself.

President Santos, representing his government is involved in a three-way negotiation. He is dealing not only with the FARC, but also with the opposition. The opposition is lead by the former president Alvaro Uribe, while the FARC is represented by Rodrigo Londono, AKA Timochenko.

The ceasefire was set to expire on October 31, but on October 13 President Santos extended the period until December 31.

The question now is what will happen in 2017? Will there be a new accord that may not be perfect, but that is agreeable to all parties, or will the war which nobody wants start again? Please log in and give us your thoughts on this matter.

Press Release: Nobel Peace Prize

Photo: World Economic Forum via flickr