Santos Urges Colombia's New President to Fully Implement FARC Peace Accord

Former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has urged his successor, Abelardo De La Espriella, to carry out the country's 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in full, arguing that completing the deal could help heal a politically fractured nation.

Santos, who governed Colombia from 2010 to 2018 and negotiated the accord, was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the group's formal participation in the conflict. He spoke in Oslo, where he travelled to mark ten years since the agreement was signed. Norway and Cuba helped broker the pact.

"The elections have greatly polarised the country," Santos said, adding that full implementation could offer a route to common ground and a response to problems including poverty among farmers, drug trafficking and insecurity in areas where conflict persists.

Colombia's conflict, which began over land rights and other social grievances, has lasted more than six decades, drawing in leftist guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitary forces and drug traffickers. While armed groups have long relied on drug trafficking for funding, illegal gold mining has become a major source of income.

The peace deal was written into Colombia's constitution, but many of its provisions — from support for demobilised rebels to land reform for poor farmers — depend on shifting government priorities. Santos said neither of his successors, Ivan Duque nor Gustavo Petro, implemented the accord fully. He criticised Petro's "total peace" policy of negotiating with other armed groups, saying it delayed the FARC agreement, which was designed to be rolled out over 15 years.

De La Espriella, a right-wing lawyer who has represented people linked to paramilitary groups, criticised parts of the deal during his campaign, particularly the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), the transitional court investigating conflict-era crimes. He said he would dismantle the court, calling it ineffective and costly. In his inauguration speech, however, he said he would respect its place in Colombia's judicial system while subjecting it to rigorous oversight.

Critics, including De La Espriella, have argued that reparations sentences handed down by the JEP are too lenient. The 2016 agreement narrowly failed in a referendum before being revised and approved by congress. Most FARC leaders and fighters demobilised under the deal, and the group now operates as a legal political party, though some members left the accord and returned to arms as dissident factions.