Sink or Swim: Total Peace Under Petro

What Petro can achieve in furthering peace will determine whether the enthusiasm that propelled him to victory will quickly turn into disillusionment and whether Colombia’s peace process will sink or swim.

Read More »

Colombia’s potential as a global breadbasket is stymied by a lack of rural reform

A persistent lack of development in rural areas continues to be a major impediment for Colombia as it seeks to reach its potential for growth in the agricultural sector and achieve its human development goals in the countryside. This reality only underscores the urgent necessity of structural agrarian reform in Colombia, an initiative which no recent government has had the appetite nor the political capital to attempt. As the official commencement of the 2022 electoral campaign grows nearer, rural issues are likely to become even more central to the Colombian political discourse. Will real change finally follow?

Read More »

A resurgence of violence in Colombia

Last Friday, the helicopter of President of Colombia Iván Duque was struck by multiple bullets as it approached the airport of the city of Cúcuta, capital of the Norte de Santander region, located on the Venezuelan border. No passengers were injured by the small-arms fire, although Duque’s government released photographs showing the helicopter’s exterior lacerated by bullet holes. The attack occurred in the context of escalating levels of violence in Colombia—as the landmark 2016 peace deal signed with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) lurches unsteadily toward its fifth anniversary—and record-low approval ratings for President Duque.

Read More »

Turmoil in the Western Hemisphere

Taking advantage of the demonstrations that flared across Latin America at the end of 2019, outside actors worked to push legitimate social protest to violent extremes as a part of a deliberate destabilization strategy.

Read More »
Scroll to Top