Majority of urban Colombia to vote in favor of FARC peace deal: Gallup

Almost 69% of Colombia’s urban dwellers will vote in favor of a peace deal with FARC rebels if one is reached, according to pollster Gallup.

The pollster asked the opinion on the peace talks in the country’s five largest cities.

The responses showed a broad will to approve a peace deal, but strong pessimism over the possibility a peace deal can be reached this year.

According to Gallup, 82.6% of urban Colombians have no faith a pact will be signed in 2015. No more than 12.5% believe the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos is able to end 51 years of armed conflict this year.

Less than 20% of urban Colombians believe the talks are going well against almost 74% who said the talks are not going they way they should.

When asked if the implementation of a peace deal would lead either to economic prosperity as propagated by the government or to a more socialist political system comparable to Cuba or Venezuela as claimed by the conservative opposition in Congress, 44.8% of urban Colombians said to believe the country will take a swing to the left. A minority of 31.1% said to believe it would lead to an economic boost. Another 24.1% said to not know.

Disregarding the consequences, if the Santos administration and the FARC are able to come to an agreement to end Latin America’s longest running conflict, it can count on the support of a comfortable majority of the urban population, according to Gallup.

However, not many urban Colombians said to participate in the vote.

Less than 33% said they would definitely vote if a referendum is held to “seal” a peace agreement. A little less than 20% said they would definitely not vote. A little more than 17% said they did not know whether they will participate in a referendum or not.

The peace talks that began in November 2012 have long suffered major popular skepticism due to a popular distrust in both the FARC and the government.