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Webinar: Elections in Colombia
As Colombia moves toward its presidential elections on May 31, the country stands at a pivotal political crossroads — one that will not only shape its domestic future, but also carry significant implications for Latin America as a whole.
Often described as one of the last remaining strongholds of progressive governance in the region, Colombia now faces an electoral cycle marked by intense political competition, shifting alliances, and growing polarization. The results of the March 8 legislative elections have already begun to redraw the political map. A fragmented Congress, the absence of clear governing majorities, and an increasingly complex path toward coalition-building are defining what comes next. Presidential candidates are now positioning themselves in what is shaping up to be a highly competitive and uncertain race, one that the rest of the region is watching closely.
Yet the deeper challenges facing Colombian democracy are not new — and they will not be resolved at the ballot box alone.
For communities that have lived through decades of armed conflict, the 2016 Peace Agreement represented a promise that politics, not violence, would be the terrain on which Colombia’s future was decided. That promise remains unfulfilled. Victims and former peace signatories who have tried to enter political life continue to face obstacles that formal guarantees have done little to remove. At the same time, in the wake of the legislative elections, questions about the reliability of the electoral system itself — including how votes are counted, who oversees the process, and whether institutions can be trusted — have moved to the center of public debate.
These questions will follow Colombia all the way to May 31.
Featured speakers:
Aura Camargo Mercado is a social leader and victim of Colombia’s armed conflict, and a former candidate for the Special Transitional Peace Districts (CITREP) — constituencies created for communities most affected by the conflict. She brings a firsthand perspective on the limitations that victims and peace agreement signatories face in accessing the right to be elected.
Rubén D. Acosta O., Scrutiny Delegate before Colombia’s National Electoral Council (CNE), brings a clear view of how the electoral system functions in practice, where it falls short, and what the coming months will demand of it.
Together, they offer something rarely available in these conversations: a grounded, firsthand account of what Colombian democracy looks like from within.