Far-right candidate Iván Duque and progressive former mayor of Bogotá Gustavo Petro will compete in the second round of Colombia’s presidential elections on June 17. But divisions on the Left could easily mean a win for Duque, and a threat to the peace accords.
As protests in Colombia rage on, President Trump’s meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos could point towards a deepening of militarized drug war policies over investing in Colombia's peace process.
To the shock of Colombians and international observers, Colombia’s historic peace process has been stopped in its tracks after 50.2% of voters rejected a plebiscite Sunday.
Cumbre Agraria, one of Colombia’s most powerful rural social movements, recently reached an important preliminary accord with the government. Will it have wider implications for achieving peace in Colombia?
The United States has historically played a critical role in Colombia's civil war due to its special links with its military that were cemented through Plan Colombia.
One of the core reasons why the civil war in Colombia has endured for so long is because the costs of peace for the dominant classes and the United States is more than the costs of war. Nevertheless, there are several issues that can assess the possibility of success of the process of a possible peace in Colombia.
The secret peace talks between the Santos government and the FARC are now out in the open. It is premature to anticipate the prospects, however they are the first talks since the collapse of the last peace negotiations in 2002. I believe that the chance for success is higher now than in the 1998–2002 round. Success is by no means guaranteed, but there may be some hope.
