Nobel Peace Has Another Questionable Year with Colombia
The Nobel Peace Prize keeps going out to people who the public think may not deserve it. This year is no different, with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
The 2016 Nobel Peace Prize went to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his attempts to end a 52-year conflict with the far-left guerrilla organization that has terrorized his country. The war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is responsible for the deaths of around 220,000 Colombians and the displacement of 6 million people.
Established in 1964, the FARC was the militarized wing of the Communist Party. Under the guise of fighting for improved living conditions for poor farmers, the FARC grew into an armed guerrilla operation financed by trafficking cocaine and hostage ransoms. What started off as scuffles with local security grew to full-blown attacks on police stations and infrastructure like oil pipelines and bridges.
The government fought back. In fact, in 2008 Santos was head of the Defense Ministry and oversaw the bombing of a rebel camp, one of the many violent (and controversial) blows that eventually brought the FARC to the negotiating table. After his election as President in 2010, Santos focused on a peaceful end to the war. Previous peace attempts had failed, but after four years of negotiations facilitated by Norway and Cuba, the two sides came to an agreement in August.
