Is Peace in Sight for Colombia?

As Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos prepares to be sworn in for his second term on August 7, the country is on the cusp of ending a 50-year war with its biggest domestic insurgency. The country’s conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla force of roughly 8,000 fighters commonly known as FARC, has dragged on for over a quarter of Colombia’s post-independence history. It has caused more than 200,000 deaths and internally displaced over five million people – more than twice the number of refugees triggered by each of the wars in Iraq, Congo and Sudan.

Santos’ priority for his administration is to cement a lasting peace with the FARC and other smaller insurgent groups to enable the country to overcome the legacy of violence that ties Colombia to the past at a time when the country stands poised for an otherwise promising future.

A self-defined “extreme centrist” who favors a combination of market capitalism and measured government intervention, Santos won the July 15 election over his contender, Óscar Iván Zuluaga, a right-leaning former finance minister who enjoyed the support of former President Álvaro Uribe....

Read the full article in U.S. News & World Report's online opinion section.