Accepting Peace Prize, Santos calls Colombia model for war-torn states like Syria
At Oslo ceremony, president dedicates Nobel to all Colombians, particularly 220,000 killed, 8 million displaced in conflict
OSLO, Norway — Colombia’s peace deal between the government and Marxist FARC rebels is a model for war-torn countries like Syria, Yemen and South Sudan, President Juan Manuel Santos said on accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday.
The November 24 deal to end five decades of conflict is a “model for the resolution of armed conflicts that have yet to be resolved around the world,” he said at the ceremony in Oslo’s City Hall.
“It proves that what, at first, seems impossible, through perseverance may become possible even in Syria or Yemen or South Sudan.”
In his acceptance speech, Santos described the award as a “gift from heaven” and dedicated it to all Colombians, particularly the 220,000 killed and 8 million displaced in the longest-running conflict in the Western Hemisphere.
The prize gave a boost to the “impossible dream” of ending Colombia’s half-century-long civil war,” he said.
“With this agreement, we can say that the American continent — from Alaska to Patagonia — is a land in peace,” the president said.
Santos reached a historic peace deal with rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia earlier this year. But the initial deal was narrowly rejected by Colombian voters in a shock referendum result just days before the Nobel Peace Prize announcement in October.
Many believed that ruled out Santos from winning this year’s prize, but the Norwegian Nobel Committee “saw things differently,” deputy chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said.
“In our view there was no time to lose,” she said in her presentation speech. “The peace process was in danger of collapsing and needed all international support it could get.”
A revised deal was approved by Colombia’s Congress last week.
