Middle-aged Colombians want to experience peace for the first time

The situation is still in limbo more than a week after Colombians voted down the peace deal between the government and the FARC rebel group. The ceasefire between the two sides remains in place until the end of October. But the future is uncertain.

“It kind of was the Latin American Brexit,” says reporter Jasmine Garsd. “There was very low [voter] turnout.”

And since the “no” vote, there has been very low general morale, according to Garsd, who is reporting inBogotá for PRI.

“What it comes down to is that people don’t want leniency against the guerrilla groups,” says Garsd.

Both the government and FARC have expressed a desire to continue peace talks.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos went on Colombian television Monday night, stressing the urgency of these continued talks. Santos was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the failed deal. During the press conference, he also told the Colombian people to be realistic with the peace negotiation demands.

The FARC is not the only guerrilla group in negotiations with the Colombian government.

There are several guerrilla groups in Colombia — FARC is the biggest, and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) is the second largest, with an estimated 1,300 fighters. The ELN was founded in 1964, same as FARC. And while FARC members have mostly been peasants, the ELN has a base of Marxist intellectuals, as well as members of the discontented intellectual middle class. Inspired by the 1959 Cuban Revolution, the group initially trained in Cuba. Its members also ascribe to a Christian Liberation theology. 

“They’ve been described as a mix between Jesus, Marx and Che Guevara,” says Garsd.

And while time ticks away on the ceasefire between the Colombian government and the FARC, formal peace negotiations between ELN and the Colombian government are set to begin at the end of the month.

People are hopeful that peace in Colombia can and will become a reality, a peace that many middle-aged Colombians have never experienced.

“That is the sentiment for an overwhelming majority of Colombian who don’t remember what peace feels like, and they just want to know what that’s like,” says Garsd.