Colombian Presidential Runoff: Conflict Victims Split Between Dialogue and Military Crackdown

Blanca Monroy and Sigifredo López are among Colombia's millions marked by decades of armed conflict, yet they stand on opposite sides of a pivotal presidential runoff. Monroy, whose 19-year-old son was killed in an extrajudicial execution, will vote for progressive candidate Iván Cepeda, while López, who survived FARC guerrilla kidnapping, supports conservative Abelardo de la Espriella. Both voters face a stark choice between fundamentally different approaches to addressing the country's persistent violence.

Cepeda, a longtime peace negotiator and current congressman, advocates dialogue and would continue peace negotiations launched by incumbent President Gustavo Petro, his political mentor. He aims to reduce ongoing violence despite the FARC's historic 2016 peace agreement that ended their armed insurgency a decade ago. De la Espriella takes the opposite stance, pledging to end peace talks and escalate military operations, recently telling The Associated Press he would eliminate armed groups "like cockroaches." The conservative candidate counts among his influences U.S. President Donald Trump and El Salvador's Nayib Bukele.

The runoff reflects Colombia's recurring political oscillation between dialogue-focused and hardline approaches to conflict. Political scientist Yann Basset of Universidad del Rosario notes that while most Colombians favor dialogue, public frustration with Petro's peace policy has grown. The Peace Ideas Foundation estimates that Colombia had 27,000 illegal armed combatants across eight groups in 2025, an increase of 5,000 from the previous year despite the government's pacifist stance, suggesting the strategy has yet to produce significant security gains.

Monroy's personal story exemplifies the lingering wounds of Colombia's conflict. Her son Julian Oviedo Monroy disappeared in March 2008 and was executed in what became one of 6,402 cases of "false positives"—extrajudicial killings by military forces disguised as combat deaths. Most occurred during Álvaro Uribe's presidency (2002-2010); Uribe denies ordering them. At least ten former military members and a civilian confessed their roles in the killings at Colombia's Peace Tribunal. Monroy, who forgave her son's killers, now advocates for firm action against illegal armed groups without extermination—a position that separates her from De la Espriella's hardline rhetoric.

Cepeda himself lost his father, Manuel Cepeda Vargas, a congressman, in 1984 to political violence. This tragedy shaped his decades-long commitment to defending state victims and advocating for dialogue-based solutions. Other mothers of false-positive victims have actively supported his campaign, viewing Cepeda as offering hope for justice and reduced violence without reverting to the military excess that killed their children. The June 2026 runoff thus becomes a referendum on whether Colombia will pursue reconciliation or intensified confrontation to address its remaining armed threats.