What does it mean to be young, politically active, and at risk in Colombia today, and why should students at IHEID care?

By Francesca Polano

Amid a sharp rise in kidnappings, death threats, and killings in Colombia that have targeted politicians and activists alike, The Graduate Press conducted an interview with a Colombian student at the Institute, who shared what it feels like to watch the current presidential election unfolding: “I don’t know whether it is because I have lived in a constant armed conflict my whole life, but one always has the feeling that whatever decision is made at the ballot box, it will always leave us on the brink of civil war”.

On March 8th 2026, Colombia held legislative elections alongside presidential primaries, as the country heads towards the general election on the 31st of May. The run-up to the elections has been marked by an alarming escalation of violence. From the assassination of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay in 2025, to the kidnapping of an indigenous Senator in the hands of an armed group, UN Human Rights documented 972 killings of human rights defenders, making Colombia “one of the deadliest places on earth to be a human rights defender”.

In the regions of the country where armed groups exert their control, they are growing increasingly emboldened, coercing citizens into voting for candidates who align with their interests, and punishing those politicians who pose a threat to their control.

In 2025, 1.6 million Colombians were affected by the conflict, including those displaced and those who were subjected to attacks. In their efforts to deliver humanitarian aid, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 416 incidents in which they were unable to access the field, in some cases due to armed groups such as the Estado Mayor Central (former FARC faction) restricting access to the areas under their control. This situation further deepens the dependency of citizens to armed groups. According to the Colombian student, “state coverage does not reach every city, so many people depend on different groups because they are the ones who provide what the State should normally be giving them.”

This climate of violence does not only restrict freedom of expression, with Colombian citizens living “in a climate of fear where they cannot express their opinions without losing friendships, jobs, or thinking about retaliation against their families”. It also particularly affects children, who are recruited by armed groups because “they cannot be judged as adults.” In this way, the cycle of violence deepens: “by instrumentalising minors, they ruin their lives, leaving them with no option but to remain trapped in that cycle of violence.”

Per the student’s account, “if you are someone who contradicts the status quo, you make enemies, because they don’t want you to speak. If you are an activist, you are questioning the reality that everyone takes for granted, and that is very serious”. But the violence we see in Colombia today is not unprecedented in its history: “we have always been deeply divided since the beginning of the Republic, which has fuelled much of the violence and had a great deal to do with how the conflict in the country developed. We have not really lived a single day of peace”. This testimony brings us back to a deeper chapter in Colombia’s history, dating from the decade spanning 1948 to 1957. The “peasant war” that confronted liberals against conservatives, and was equally dyed by the banner of social struggle, given its marked character of class hatred. In the words of the distinguished Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano in Open Veins of Latin America (1971), “the first guerrilla leaders, driven by the need for revenge yet without any clear political horizons, hurled themselves into destruction out of deprivation, venting their rage through fire and blood with no further objectives in mind”.

To quote Gabriel García Márquez in his celebrated speech, The beloved but distant homeland, “that is why I believe there remains, beneath the wreckage, a country yet to be discovered: a secret Colombia that no longer fits the moulds we had forged for ourselves through our historical blunders.” Precisely, after decades of failed attempts at dialogue and agreement, Colombia today “is learning to survive on an indestructible faith whose greatest merit is that it proves all the more fruitful the more adverse the circumstances.” According to the student in Geneva, “today, young people are losing their fear of raising their voices.”

From 9,000 kilometers away from Colombia, students at IHEID have something to learn. “I would say that we have to coexist with those who are different from us. The most important thing is that we have to learn to respect one another and to accept criticism, being an example of tolerance. We have to recognize the good in each other, and help one another regardless of ideology”, reflected the student. After all, “the best activists are ourselves.”