Protesting Colombians Not Impressed as President Juan Manuel Santos Wins Nobel Prize

By teleSUR

08 October 16

 

The 2016 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded only to President Santos and not FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez.

housands of Colombians continued to protest in major cities to demand peace after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC-EP, being completely ignored at the award ceremony.

The streets of Medellin were filled on Friday with people wearing white shirts and holding candles to demand the cease-fire remain beyond October. Some also protested the fact Santos received the prize without actually achieving a long-term, sustainable peace in the country.

The wave of protests began on Wednesday in Bogota and other cities after President Santos announced the "No" vote in the plebiscite, which was organized to approve the peace agreement with the rebels.

It was a surprise to some that Santos did not share the award with FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez—better known as Timochenko—who was rumored to be a contender for the prize.

The other Colombian that has won the Nobel, but in Literature, was writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez with his famous book "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

Y quien dijo que Antioquia no apoya el Acuerdo de Paz? Mire y verá lo que ocurre a esta hora en Medellín #PazALaCalle #JuntosPorLaPaz pic.twitter.com/wg5Hrlmymb

— Jorge E. Rojas R (@jerojasrodrigue) October 7, 2016

"Who said Antioquia doesn't support the peace agreement? Look at what's happening right now in Medellin #PeaceOnTheStreets #TogetherForPeace"

Que a Santos le den el #Nobel antes de lograr la paz, es como si a Garcia Marquez se lo hubieran dado antes de escribir 100 años de Soledad

— Jorge Eduardo (@Jorge_Opina) October 7, 2016

"The fact that Santos get a Nobel before achieving peace is the same as saying that Garcia Marquez got his award before writing 100 years of solitude."

According to a statement released by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, President Santos was awarded the Peace Prize “for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end."

"This honorable distinction is not for me, it's for all victims of the conflict. Together we will win the most important prize of all: Peace," he said Friday.

“The award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process,” added the statement.

Santos was not told in advance that he would be the recipient of this year's peace prize. Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Olav Njoelstad said he spoke to the Colombian president by phone to give him the good news.

"He was overwhelmed. He was very grateful. He said it was of invaluable importance to further the peace process in Colombia," Olav Njoelstad told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK.

Santos has promised to revive a peace plan even though Colombians, in a referendum on Sunday, narrowly rejected the accord. The Nobel win for Santos is expected to boost prospects for an eventual approval of the deal sometime in the future.

Kaci Kullman, the chair of the committee, said that the committee hoped the award would serve as “strong encouragement” in future negotiations.

Colombia's ambassador to Norway, Alvaro Sandoval Bernal, said it was a message for his country, saying that "it reiterates that there is hope for the peace process in Colombia."

When asked, Kullman said Santo's role as “keeper of the process” was important and that he had gone further than past efforts to establish peace in Colombia.

“The committee hopes that the peace prize will give him strength to succeed in this demanding task. Further, it is the committee’s hope that in the years to come, the Colombian people will reap the fruits of the reconciliation process,” said Kullman, as quoted by the Guardian.

Despite being pushed by journalists, she refused to comment as to why the award was not also given to Timochenko.

For his part, Timochenko appeared unbothered by the fact that he was not awarded the peace prize alongside Santos.

“The only prize we strive for is peace with social justice for Colombia,” said the FARC leader on his Twitter account after the announcement.

The one-sided prize echoes previous awards, such as to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in 2000 for his work for reconciliation with North Korea. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt won in 1971 for his policies of reaching out to the communist East.

But often the awards go to both sides in peace negotiations, such as to both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership in 1994 or to Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and the Israeli Menachem Begin in 1978.

Peace talks with the FARC began in 2012, carried out in Havana. Four years later, the two parties reached an accord to end a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people since it began in 1964.

A bilateral ceasefire and end to hostilities was signed in June 2016 with the complete peace accord published in August. Santos and Timochenko signed the agreement on September 26, 2016. However, in a surprise result, a narrow majority rejected the deal in a plebiscite held Sunday.

The "No" vote was a disaster for Santos, who had hoped to turn his focus quickly to other matters. Analysts partially attribute the defeat of the plebiscite to Santos' unpopularity.

The Nobel Peace Prize, worth US$930,000, will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10.