'Heavy hand' won't bring peace to Colombia: Nobel laureate Santos

Detailed summary

Nobel laureate Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday said "a heavy hand alone" will not restore order in Colombia, days before a landmark peace deal's tenth anniversary. The South…

Nobel laureate Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday said "a heavy hand alone" will not restore order in Colombia, days before a landmark peace deal's tenth anniversary.

The South American country is the world's largest cocaine producer and is dealing with its worst levels of violence in a decade.

President Abelardo de la Espriella, three months into the job, firmly opposes dialogue with armed groups and has vowed to send them all "to the grave or prison."

Santos, who served as president from 2010 to 2018, oversaw the historic peace deal that led to the rebel army FARC laying down arms after decades of fighting.

"If you want to regain security, you need to regain control of the territory... that isn't achieved just with a heavy hand, by bombing," he said during the presentation of an Ombudsman report.

Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the 2016 agreement, urged De la Espriella to comply with its terms.

"Don't miss this opportunity," he said, adding that the accord had been "targeted by attacks and disinformation campaigns."

Another ex-president attending the presentation, Ivan Duque, criticized Colombia's special peace tribunal which tries cases involving the conflict's worst crimes.

Parts of the political right consider sentences handed to guerrillas as too lenient, and sentences handed to state-backed paramilitaries as too harsh.

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