Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos said Wednesday that he would sacrifice his possible reelection for ongoing peace talks with rebel group FARC.
While speaking in the southern city of Neiva, Santos said that he would be willing to sacrifice his still unofficial second run “a thousand times” if that would result in progress in the peace talks as “the reelection is secondary to the objective of peace.”
Support For Peace Talks With FARC |
The president vehemently defended the peace talks that have been criticized by his predecessor Alvaro Uribe and can count on increasingly less popular support.
According to a poll released on Thursday, support for the peace talks has dropped from 67% in September last year to 32% in August. The fading support for the peace talks coincides with a general drop in approval for the president which has dropped from 65% to 28% in the same period.
MORE: 72% of Colombia would not vote for Santos
re-election: Survey
The consistent opposition of Uribe and his political allies further put pressure on the talks that celebrate their first anniversary in November.
According to Santos however, Uribe’s opposition has been “obsessive.”
“I am negotiating with the guerrillas, not with Uribe,” said Santos, adding that his predecessor “has been obsessive in claiming that it is illegitimate to talk to the subversion, because it legitimizes them. However, he wanted to do it, he negotiated with the ELN for years, so why not allow me to do the same if he tried but couldn’t?”
Sources
- Estoy negociando con la guerrilla, no con Uribe: Santos (Caracol Radio)
- Presidente Santos dijo que sacrificaría su reelección por el proceso de paz (Vanguardia Liberal)