Colombia’s Road to Peace Runs Through the Countryside

Conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella is about to be sworn in as Colombia’s new president. Gustavo Petro, the soon to be former leftist president, began his own term hoping to bring peace to the country by negotiating with a wide array of criminal and ideological armed groups under his “total peace” strategy. That approach failed. In contrast, de la Espriella has promised peace and security through a vigorous campaign of law and order, including constructing megaprisons similar to those in El Salvador. Big swings in the approach to conflict are nothing new for Colombia, which faces multiple challenges from groups such as the Ejercito de Liberación Nacional, a longtime ideological guerrilla group that has never signed a peace accord, and the Clan del Golfo, a major cartel. The coun