Colombia security gaps test peace as new president prepares to take office

Colombia’s hard-won peace remains fragile in several regions as the country prepares for a historic presidential transition, the United Nations verification mission warned the Security Council on Wednesday, pointing to persistent armed group activity that continues to threaten civilian lives despite years of progress.

A democracy under pressure

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, described the country as a “vibrant democracy” but was candid about the challenges that linger. Armed dissident factions, criminal networks, and territorial disputes continue to plague rural communities, particularly in departments like Catatumbo, Arauca, and Chocó, where state presence remains thin.

Still, Ruiz Massieu struck a measured tone. He acknowledged that Colombia has come an extraordinary distance since the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, an accord that ended more than five decades of armed conflict that killed an estimated 220,000 people and displaced millions more.

Violence in the margins

The numbers tell a complicated story. The mission documented 43 killings of former FARC combatants in the first half of this year alone. Social leaders — activists, land rights defenders, community organizers — continue to be murdered at alarming rates in isolated municipalities that rarely make international headlines.

It’s a pattern that human rights groups have flagged for years. And it’s one that the incoming government will inherit almost immediately.

“The peace process is real, but so are the risks facing those who chose to lay down arms and reintegrate,” one UN official familiar with the mission’s work said on condition of anonymity. “The state needs to catch up with the geography of conflict.”

Transition at a critical moment

The Security Council session came as Colombia stands on the edge of a significant political shift. Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla turned senator, won the presidency in June in a runoff election — the first leftist to win the Colombian presidency in the country’s modern history. He takes office on August 7.

Petro has pledged what he calls “total peace,” an ambitious policy aimed at negotiating simultaneously with multiple armed groups, including ELN guerrillas and dissident FARC factions that rejected the 2016 deal. Whether that approach can succeed where previous efforts stalled is an open question.

But expectations are high, and time is short.

What comes next

The UN mission, which has roughly 170 international and national staff deployed across the country, will continue monitoring the reintegration of some 13,000 former combatants. Many have struggled to access land, jobs, and security guarantees promised under the peace deal.

Ruiz Massieu urged the incoming administration to prioritize implementation of the original accord, warning that delays in land reform and rural development programs risk fueling a new cycle of recruitment by armed groups targeting vulnerable communities.

Colombia’s story isn’t finished. It’s entering a new chapter, and how Petro’s government handles the first months in office could define the country’s security landscape for years to come.