Insisting on the Hope for Peace in the 2026 Elections in Colombia
The figures identifying more than 10 million victims of the armed conflict in Colombia are profoundly painful. Nonetheless, they don't seem to be enough to unite us as a society in the urgent need for an agreement and mechanisms to stop the violence that causes so much suffering and death. These would allow us to embark upon a path of reconciliation to heal the wounds and achieve well-being and security together.
Nearly 10 years ago we experienced an event related to this yearning and hope for peace that many people in Colombia and around the world don't understand. In the plebiscite of October 2016, a political sector encouraged a narrow majority of Colombians to vote against the peace agreement between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the former FARC guerrillas. Despite this, those who drafted the peace agreement reviewed and changed controversial points and maintained their commitment to reconciliation. However, a year later, Iván Duque was elected president of Colombia, having campaigned on the promise to tear this peace agreement to shreds.
The Duque administration's lack of commitment to achieving peace led to a return to arms by signatories of the peace agreement, the formation of dissident groups, and the growth of armed groups, increasing the number of victims. The current government of President Gustavo Petro was elected on the promise of resuming the path of peacebuilding through dialogue and political solutions. His Total Peace proposal generated much hope that we could stop the violence perpetrated by the various armed groups, but now, just months before the end of his term, a political sector, the media, and some armed groups consider this Total Peace policy a failure.
Illegal armed groups in Colombia and some political sectors seem to believe they live in a country that enjoys war, and they are strengthening their military capabilities to maintain control in the territories where they are present, thus exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the communities. Faced with this reality, President Petro's government has shifted its emphasis from achieving peace via dialogue and has reverted to the practices of previous administrations of bombing areas where armed groups are present. President Petro also seems to have understood that his image, both internationally and nationally, improves by using warlike language and actions against illegal armed groups, which he calls drug traffickers.
The result of this escalation of conflict has been shown by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in its 2025 report, which indicates that since 2018 there has been a progressive deterioration of the humanitarian situation in some regions. This trend reached a critical point in 2025. “The data compared to 2024 are compelling: individual displacements increased by 100%, reaching 235,000 affected individuals; mass displacements by 111%, with 87,000 victims; and confinements by 99%, with 117,000 recorded cases.” The report “indicates that two parallel trends have intensified: the increase in combat in populated areas and the development of new technologies, such as drones. Anxiety has increased among the civilian population, who are victims of homicides, disappearances, threats, sexual assault, and forced recruitment. The impact of armed conflict has become ingrained in the daily lives of the communities.”[1]
In this context, in the current elections, the issue of peace through dialogue and political solutions is not prominent among the presidential candidates. Most of the presidential tickets promise security in cities and rural areas by increasing militarization, convictions, building new prisons, and forming military alliances with other countries to imprison or eliminate members of armed groups.
From the perspective of the Gospel, which calls us to be peacemakers, peace is not achieved through weapons or armies. Peace is the fruit of justice, which brings security, abundant life, and allows us to live peacefully in our communities, based on respect for the dignity of each person, as is God's desire for God’s people. As Christians, we cannot follow or be deceived by those who proclaim that war and violence are a way to achieve peace and live in security.
For this reason, pastors and leaders from various churches in Colombia, with the support of the World Council of Churches and several international faith-based organizations, are inviting everyone to a Day of Prayer and Action for Peace in our country on May 24, Pentecost Sunday. On this day, it is essential that we pray and reflect together on God's word so that the spirit of life and peace may reconcile us, who have lived captive to violence, with God and with one another. Along with this, it is necessary to analyze the proposals and commitments of those aspiring to be the next president of Colombia, in order to choose the one with the best plans to find mechanisms to stop the violence that is causing us so much harm, and who will be a leader to begin a path where peace flourishes as a fruit of justice, dialogue, citizen participation, reparations for victims, and care for creation.
The World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Call to Just Peace (2011) calls us to insist on dialogue to reach agreements, since “Peace agreements are often fragile, temporary, and inadequate. Places where peace is declared may still be filled with hatred. Repairing the damage of war and violence may take longer than the conflict that caused it. But what exists of peace along the way, though imperfect, is a promise of greater things to come.”
From this same perspective, Pope Leo XIV recently declared, in light of the various armed conflicts plaguing our world: “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.” With the hope that the pursuit of peace through dialogue assures us that the future can be better in our country, let us participate in these upcoming elections to choose the person who will be President of Colombia for the next four years.
Rev. Milton Mejía, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia and Research Professor at the Reformed University.
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