Indigenous leader Esneyder Gomez Salamanca, center, candidate for a Peace Seat in Congress, speaks during a campaign rally in El Playon, department of Cauca, Colombia, on Thursday last week. AFP recently followed Gomez as he trudged village to village along muddy roads, trying to win the votes of indigenous communities. “The risk is constant,” Gomez said, adding that in the decade-and-a-half since Colombia’s biggest armed groups signed a peace deal, peace remains elusive. The main faction of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) laid down arms, but dissident factions did not. This must stop.”The area will be a test of whether Colombia’s elections can be free, fair and safe across the whole country.

Source: Taipei Times February 19, 2026 17:22 UTC