Colombia at risk of returning to violent past, says ex-president

Colombia risks sliding back into its violent past as armed groups exploit the stumbling peace strategy of the president, Gustavo Petro, according to the architect of the country's 2016 peace deal.

- Luke Taylor Bogotá

In an interview with the Guardian, the former president Juan Manuel Santos warned that gains from the peace agreement with the Revolu- tionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) were quickly being undone as armed factions exploited negotiation efforts to recruit new combatants and seize territory. "I'm seriously concerned about the deteriorating security situation and how armed groups are growing," he said. "They are taking advantage of the gov- ernment's disorder to strengthen themselves, fight amongst them- selves and take more territory."

Santos's peace deal with the Farc - at the time, the most powerful guerrilla insurgency in the western hemisphere - led to 7,000 combat- ants laying down their rifles and gave Colombians the hope of a more peaceful chapter in their country's bloody history.