History will judge Colombia's outgoing president kindly

[Judi Lynn]

Voters, however, are unimpressed

Jul 26th 2018

AS HE prepares to step down on August 7th after eight years as Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos admits to one regret. “I didn’t realise that post-truth, that the propaganda against the [peace] process was much more powerful and much more effective than I imagined… And when I realised, it was too late.” This is not the whole story, but it may be one reason why Mr Santos is reviled by so many Colombians, as last month’s presidential election showed. The winner, Iván Duque, is the protégé of Mr Santos’s predecessor and implacable political foe, Álvaro Uribe, while the runner-up was an opponent on the left. Mr Santos’s preferred candidate got just 2% of the vote.

What makes that odd is that Mr Santos leaves his country a better place than he found it. Unemployment, poverty and income inequality are all lower than they were in 2010. His government tripled the motorway network. An area the size of Italy was designated as environmentally protected. The murder rate fell by 35%, and the country’s human-rights record has improved, though it remains far from perfect. “Eight years ago Colombia was the black sheep in the region and the world,” says Mr Santos. “Today Colombia is respected.”

But history, and Colombians, will remember Mr Santos for one thing: the agreement that, after almost five years of talks, put an end to more than 50 years of fighting by the FARC, a leftist guerrilla army, and which won him the Nobel peace prize. The accord has seen some 10,000 former fighters disarm and begin to enter civilian life. Provided their leaders confess to their crimes before a special tribunal, which began its work this month, they will face only symbolic punishment. On July 20th ten former FARC leaders took their seats as non-voting members of Colombia’s Congress.

These concessions are unacceptable to many Colombians, who think the FARC’s commanders belong in jail. Mr Santos narrowly lost a referendum on the peace agreement in 2016. The government then sat down with the leaders of the No campaign, including Mr Uribe, and acted on most of their suggestions to renegotiate many details of the accord. Nevertheless, Mr Duque promises to undo parts of it. Mr Santos is confident that it cannot be reversed. Others are less sure.

More:
https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2018/07/28/history-will-judge-colombias-outgoing-president-kindly