Colombia: Quarterly Meeting
Tomorrow morning (15 July), the Security Council will hold its quarterly briefing on Colombia. Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia Miroslav Jenča will brief on recent developments and the Secretary-General’s latest 90-day report on the mission (S/2026/528), which was circulated to Council members on 26 June and covers developments since 27 March. Closed consultations are scheduled to follow the open briefing.
Tomorrow’s meeting will take place during an inflection point for the country. Colombia has concluded its electoral cycle after holding congressional elections in March and the second round of its presidential elections in June. Abelardo de la Espriella of the “Defensores de la Patria” movement received 49.6 percent of the vote, securing a razor-thin victory over Iván Cepeda of the “Pacto Histórico”, who received 48.7 percent of the vote. The victory of de la Espriella—who will take office on 7 August—signifies a shift to the right after the four-year term of President Gustavo Petro Urrego, Colombia’s first leftist president. At tomorrow’s meeting, Jenča and Council members are likely to welcome the peaceful conduct of the presidential elections.
Although the election day was generally peaceful, the electoral period saw some violence. It was also marked by a highly polarised environment, which has persisted in its aftermath. The presidential transition process—during which the outgoing administration provides information to help prepare the president-elect to run the government—has been beset by disputes between Petro and de la Espriella. On 6 July, Petro stated that he refuses to recognise de la Espriella’s victory, alleging election fraud without providing evidence. De la Espriella responded on the following day (7 July) by announcing the suspension of the transition process, accusing Petro of attempting to stay in power through a coup d’état.
On 10 July, members of “the Shield of the Americas” issued a statement on the presidential transition process in Colombia. (“The Shield of the Americas” is a multinational military and political coalition established by the US in March to coordinate efforts to combat transnational criminal organisations. In addition to the US, it comprises 12 countries from Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, including Council member Panama and incoming member Trinidad and Tobago.) The statement expressed concern about “the recent statements and actions that, without duly substantiated grounds, cast doubt on the integrity of the electoral process” and called on all Colombian authorities to respect the electoral results and to guarantee a peaceful, orderly, and transparent transition. Some Council members may echo such messages tomorrow.
Implementation of the 2016 Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace between the government of Colombia and the former rebel group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) is expected to be a key focus of the discussion at tomorrow’s meeting. The new administration will take office shortly before the tenth anniversary of the accord in November. Jenča may note that, at this crucial juncture, important advances in the implementation of the agreement continue to take place alongside persistent challenges.
Speakers are expected to reiterate their long-standing strong concerns about the persistent violence against communities (including indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities), former FARC-EP members, human rights defenders, and social leaders. During the period covered by the Secretary-General’s report, the mission verified the killing of one former combatant, bringing the number of ex-FARC killed since the signing of the peace agreement to 493. Between 27 March and 1 June, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 5,272 people were displaced and 9,553 confined across 17 municipalities in seven departments, with approximately 58 percent of those affected belonging to ethnic communities.
De la Espriella has criticised the 2016 peace agreement, arguing that it has failed to bring security to the country and has pledged to crack down on armed groups, including by increasing military deployments. Some analysts have noted that it remains to be seen which campaign promises would be translated into policy once the new administration takes office. They have warned, however, that military means alone might fail to curb violence and could have adverse effects on civilians.
In a video message issued yesterday evening (13 July), de la Espriella announced a planned restructuring of government offices in his administration. Among the planned changes is the elimination of the unit in charge of implementation of the 2016 agreement and the transfer of its tasks to the National Security Commissioner, a new position established by the president-elect. De la Espriella also expressed his intention to eliminate the position of High Commissioner for Peace, who oversaw the implementation of Petro’s “total peace” policy, which involved dialogue efforts with armed groups operating in the country. De la Espriella has rejected this policy and stressed that he will not negotiate with armed groups. In his video message, de la Espriella also reiterated his criticism of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), the judicial component of the transitional justice system established by the 2016 accord, arguing that the Court promotes impunity for crimes committed during Colombia’s civil war.
Several Colombian actors have urged the continued and full implementation of the 2016 peace agreement. On 2 July, the Commission for the Follow-up, Promotion and Verification of the Implementation of the Final Agreement (CSIVI)—the main forum for dialogue between the parties on the implementation of the 2016 agreement—held its last meeting under the outgoing administration. In a statement issued after the meeting, the outgoing government and signatories to the peace agreement emphasised that implementation of the agreement is “an imperative and irreversible mandate for the Colombian State”. (A constitutional amendment from 2017 decreed that state institutions have the obligation to comply in good faith with what is established in the agreement until the end of three full presidential terms after the amendment’s adoption, that is until 2030.) They also stressed the need to safeguard the institutional framework established by the agreement, including through the allocation of budgetary resources.
The 2 July CSIVI session also decided to form a joint mechanism for international monitoring to verify implementation of the ethnic chapter of the 2016 agreement and compliance with sentences handed down by the SJP. Both these tasks were removed from the verification mission’s mandate through resolution 2798 of 31 October 2025. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Mission to Support the Peace Process of the Organization of American States (MAPP/OAS) are expected to participate in such a mechanism.
Yesterday morning, a broad range of Colombian representatives—including leaders of Indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians, and peasant communities as well as civil society organisations and victims of the conflict—sent a joint letter to the Security Council. In it, they expressed concern about “the country’s deep polarization and the repeated attacks by major political sectors” on the peace agreement and its key provisions, including those concerning the SJP. The letter further argued that resolution 2798 does not preclude the Secretary-General’s quarterly reports from continuing to reflect on ethnic matters across the verification mission’s remaining mandated tasks (namely security guarantees, reintegration of former combatants, and comprehensive rural reform) and called for closer engagement between the mission and leaders of ethnic and peasant communities.
At tomorrow’s meeting, most speakers are not likely to comment on specific statements made by the incoming administration. Instead, several Council members are expected to make general statements regarding the importance of the continued implementation of the 2016 peace agreement. Some speakers may echo the Secretary-General’s report, which stressed that cautious approaches are needed to resolve the causes of current insecurity, which is deeply rooted in inequality and is driven by disputes among armed groups over the control of territory and illicit economies in areas with limited state presence. They may emphasise that comprehensive implementation of the peace agreement offers a framework to address these challenges. On the other hand, the US may welcome de la Espriella’s policy priorities, particularly his commitment to curbing the drug trade from the country.
Some Council members may also express support for the SJP. In a recent landmark development, the Court announced on 7 July that its Appellate Section decided to uphold the SJP’s decisions in Case 01 (on hostage-taking, other severe deprivations of liberty and concurrent crimes committed by the FARC-EP) against the seven members of the last FARC-EP secretariat and in Case 03 (on killings and forced disappearances presented as combat casualties by state agents) against 12 members of the public security forces. The SJP initially handed down the sentences in both cases in September 2025, which were then appealed by the parties and families of victims. The Court’s 7 July statement said the indicted individuals will begin implementing their sentences on 15 August. It also noted that 50 billion Colombian pesos have been allocated to launch the first phase of implementation and that the government would need to allocate the remaining resources necessary to ensure the continuity of the sentences in subsequent years.
