Support for a negotiated end of Colombia’s 48-year-old armed conflict with leftist guerrillas has increased significantly, pollster Gallup said Thursday.
According to the latest Gallup poll, 60% of polled Colombians are in favor of a political solution to the problem. In June, a negotiated end of the conflict could count on 52%.
Support for a military-only solution to the conflict decreased from 44% to 37%, said Gallup.
The bi-monthly poll was held in the same week that President Juan Manuel Santos announced representatives of his administration had been having “exploratory talks” with the FARC about a negotiated end of the armed conflict.
While support for negotiations went up, the poll also revealed that 66% of Colombians disapprove of the way the president was dealing with the rebels.
The Gallup polls are held among 1,200 people in Colombia’s five largest cities.