Skip to main content
Colombia's coming elections are vital for a peace process in disarray
NICK MACWILLIAM says the Ivan Duque government has not met its side of the bargain in the peace process and murders of trade unionists and environmental activists are rife in today's Colombia
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, left, and Colombia's President Ivan Duque, attend a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Bogota

HAVING marked the fifth anniversary of its historic peace agreement on November 24, Colombia now looks towards another landmark date: next May’s presidential election. 

Whoever succeeds the current government of Ivan Duque will have an enormous bearing on the agreement between the then government of Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). The signing raised optimism for the future of a country blighted by decades of political violence. 

Duque’s 2018 election victory, however, provoked genuine fears for the peace process. His party, the hard-right Democratic Centre (CD), founded in 2013 by former president Alvaro Uribe, opposed negotiations with the Farc and subsequently orchestrated the successful No campaign in which Colombians narrowly rejected the agreement  before it was ratified through congress. It was Uribe who selected Duque, a low-profile senator, as the CD’s candidate for the 2018 election.

Take out shares in the People's Press
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
NEW ERA: A woman holds an image of Colombia’s President Gu
Features / 6 May 2024
6 May 2024
Colombia’s first left-leaning government has faced subversion from the murderous right-wing elite it deposed, but it has not stopped moving forward with the peace process and social reforms needed, writes NICK MacWILLIAM
REPRESENTING THE MANY: Gustavo Petro and Luiz Inacio Lula da
Features / 9 February 2024
9 February 2024
Democracy is under threat following a series of disruptive actions that Gustavo Petro's government has attributed to attempts by state institutions to undermine its progressive agenda or even remove it from office, writes NICK MACWILLIAM
READJUSTING THE ECONOMY: The gigantic El Correjon coal mine
Features / 27 January 2024
27 January 2024
Right-wing forces continuously obstruct the progressive agenda of Gustavo Petro's government, writes NICK MacWILLIAM
RIGHT-WING DEATH SQUADS: Members of the ACCU, a component gr
Features / 19 May 2023
19 May 2023
A former leader of the clandestine anti-leftist forces that were responsible for thousands of murders is revealing the extent of the support his side received from the government, reports NICK MACWILLIAM
Similar stories
People hold posters in support of Colombia's President Gusta
Labour Conference 2024 / 25 September 2024
25 September 2024
Indigenous people gather for a press conference at the end o
Features / 3 September 2024
3 September 2024
MICAELA TRACEY-RAMOS reports back from a trade union delegation to Colombia, on the difficulties facing the Petro government in maintaining the peace agenda, and how the business-oriented opposition obstructs pro-worker reforms passing into law
NEW ERA: A woman holds an image of Colombia’s President Gu
Features / 6 May 2024
6 May 2024
Colombia’s first left-leaning government has faced subversion from the murderous right-wing elite it deposed, but it has not stopped moving forward with the peace process and social reforms needed, writes NICK MacWILLIAM