Security & Strategic Review - March 2026

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro took office in August 2022 with the uplifting message that a new approach could break a vicious cycle of violence that has lasted over six decades. His ‘total peace’ initiative envisioned simultaneous negotiations with all armed groups, resulting in a wave of demobilisations and peace accords. Now, however, the once ubiquitous ‘total peace’ phrase has largely fallen out of favour in the government. With just months to go before Petro steps down in August following the May presidential election, a report published on 30 January by the Colombian think tank Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP) offered a bleak assessment of the current security situation.