On Sunday, Colombians head to the polls to pick a new president. Whoever wins will play a crucial role in the country's ongoing peace process. Below, we detail the most important steps taken so far.
Image: Reuters/F. Caicedo
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In November 2016, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group and Colombia's government signed a second, revised peace deal, ending more than five decades of violent conflict. And despite occasional setbacks, Colombia's peace process seems to be on the right track. One high-ranking figure, however, rejects the peace deal: Ivan Duque, who is running as the Democratic Center's candidate inthis Sunday's presidential elections. Critics allege that Duque is former president Alvaro Uribe's puppet. Uribe had previously led the camp opposing the first peace deal signed in August 2016 – which was then narrowly rejected in a referendum.
Some observers have criticized how the government is implementing the peace deal, and have suggested changes. But other than Duque, none of the other presidential candidates standing for election this Sunday are putting the peace agreement in question. Polls indicate that one of these five candidates will probably face Duque in a run-off.
Colombia's long struggle for peace
Colombia's presidential election is an important milestone towards consolidating the peace accord with FARC guerrillas. It was reached after decades of bloody conflict between the state and the FARC guerrilla groups.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Legaria
Difficult path toward peace
The 2016 signing of the peace accord between the Colombian government and FARC rebels was a major, but not final, step towards ending the decades-long conflict. The deal remains a controversial topic in the country and took center stage during the presidential election.
Image: Kaeufer/Moser
Land owners vs. farmers
The conflict's origins date to the 1920s and a struggle over land ownership, which claimed thousands of lives. The 1948 murder of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (photo), a liberal politician, threw the country into deep crisis. A result was the formation of a number of resistance groups; the Colombian army launched a campaign against "communist farmers."
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FARC and ELN
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) were founded in 1964. The former wanted to break up the monopoly of land ownership, whereas the ELN formed out of a radical student movement and ideas of liberation theologians such as Camilo Torres (photo). The Colombian government fought both groups with the support the United States.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Paramilitary groups
The conflict deepened in the 1980s with the introduction of right-wing paramilitary groups in the service of the landowners against FARC. Both sides were closely linked to drug cartels. Four presidential candidates and countless left-wing politicians were murdered by paramilitaries between 1986 and 1990.
Image: Carlos Villalon/Liaison/Getty Images
Ingrid Betancourt kidnapped
In February 2002, the government cut off peace negotiations with FARC after guerrillas hijacked a domestic flight. Days later, the rebels struck again, kidnapping presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Alvaro Uribe went on to win the election that May and escalated military operations against FARC, ruling out further negotiations. He was re-elected in 2007. Betancourt was released in 2008.
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Peace talks begin
Juan Manuel Santos was elected president in 2010. Two years later, a law concerning compensation for victims of violence and the return of land came into effect. Peace talks between the government (photo) and FARC officially began that November.
Image: Reuters
Ceasefire
At midnight on August 29, 2016, the permanent ceasefire came into force. "A new chapter in Colombia's history begins on August 29," Santos wrote on Twitter. "We have silenced the weapons. The war with FARC is over!"
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Legaria
Peace deal with FARC
On September 26, 2016, President Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, a.k.a. Timochenko, signed the peace treaty, ending the 52-year-old conflict. The signing took place in Cartagena and was attended by 2,500 people.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Vergara
Setback
Distrust in FARC manifested itself in a pre-referendum campaign against the peace treaty, led by the conservative ex-president Alvaro Uribe. To the surprise of many observers, a thin majority of Colombians voted to reject the deal on October 2, 2016.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/I. Valencia
Peace Prize for Santos
The international community threw its support behind the treaty's supporters. Just five days after it was rejected in a referendum, Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The ceremony took place in Oslo in December 2016.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Schwarz
Parliamentary ratification
Colombia's parliament ratified the peace treaty on November 30, 2016, following a list of changes to the deal's original language.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Legaria
Disarmament
FARC rebels gave up their weapons in three phases. On June 27, 2017, at the end of the UN-controlled disarmament process, Santos wrote: "For me and all Colombians, today is a special day. It's a day when weapons were exchanged for words."
Image: picture alliance/dpa/A. Piñeros
The new FARC
The now disarmed, former rebel group chose to renew itself as a political party and disavow violence during a convention on August 27, 2017. The guerrilla's founder, Rodrigo Londono (photo), was elected the new party's head. He was unable to run for president, however, due to his poor health.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Vergara
FARC at the polls
For the first time since the end of the armed conflict, FARC put up its members as candidates in the parliamentary election, which took place on March 11, 2018. The party received just 50,000 votes, but secured five seats in the senate and lower house of parliament, respectively, as guaranteed by the peace treaty. The conservative party of former President Uribe won the election.
Image: Imago/Agencia EFE
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Here is a brief history of the peace process so far:
Tentative steps towards peace
When, in October 2012, Colombia's government and FARC guerrillas began peace negotiations in Oslo, both sides were skeptical as to whether talks would be successful. Many recall former president Andres Pastrana's failed attempts to achieve peace in the late 1990s.
Elected on a platform of peace: Juan Manuel Santos on election night in June 2014Image: Reuters/J.-M. Gomez
But President Juan Manuel Santos was determined to make peace and succeeded in getting many Colombians on his side. Eager to see it through, he ran for re-election in 2014 under the slogan "'United for Peace," and won.
Ceasefire
After a range of preliminary agreements concerning an agricultural reform and the possibility of integrating former FARC fighters in Colombia's political process, the stage seemed set for proper peace talks. But when a FARC attack killed 11 Colombian soldiers in April 2015, negotiations came to an abrupt halt. Colombia's government responded with a military campaign, and once more peace looked unlikely.
It was a critical moment. The diplomatic intervention of the four guarantor states Cuba, Chile, Venezuela and Norway, who had facilitated the peace negotiations, ensured the conflict did not flare up again. Then, in July 2015, FARC announced a ceasefire. And in November that year, Colombia's government pardoned 30 FARC fighters, helping to further ease tensions.
Santos and Londono, or 'Timochenko', at the signing of the peace agreement in 2016Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Vergara
A first peace agreement is signed
International backing during the peace talks proved invaluable. The United Nations (UN) agreed to monitor the implementation of the peace deal and the disarmament of FARC guerrillas, which lent much need credibility to the process. Then, on 26 September 2016, President Santos and FARC commander Rodrigo Londono signed a peace accord in the city of Cartagena.
But the exuberance of all those involved soon waned. Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe headed a sizable group of critics who opposed the deal and its stipulations on transitional justice, in particular. To the surprise of many, he then succeeded in convincing a slim majority of Colombians to reject the peace accord in a referendum on 2 October 2016.
A second, revised peace accord is agreed
But this setback did not derail the overall peace process. In 2016, President Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize, which lent additional momentum to the cause. And in November, the Colombian parliament unanimously agreed to a second, revised version of the peace accord. Several months later, parliament also agreed to the political integration of former FARC members following their complete disarmament. The UN monitored the three-step disarmament process, which was completed in August 2017.
New challenges may lie ahead
And there have been ample conciliatory gestures, too. When Pope Francis visited the country in September 2016, former FARC commander Rodrigo Londono (who fought under the name Timoleon Jimenez, or Timochenko) apologized for the suffering his fighters had caused. FARC has now transformed into a political party, which participated in the March 2018 parliamentary elections, where it failed to win any seats. Even so, the peace deal guarantees that FARC will hold five seats in the country's senate and lower house of representatives until 2026.
Londono on the campaign trail: FARC's party isn't expected to perform well at the pollsImage: DW/M. Rueda
Londono initially planned to run in Sunday's presidential elections but pulled out due to health problems and to undergo surgery. And judging by the dismal outcome of this year's parliamentary elections, FARC will not play an important role in Colombian politics. Alvaro Uribe, however, emerged as the big winner in the last parliamentary elections. And even though Uribe himself will not run in Sunday's presidential race, his protege Ivan Duque will – and he champions a decidedly conservative agenda. If, as polls suggest, Duque makes it to the run-off, Colombia's peace process may face challenging times.
