Ex-guerrillas battle low support in Colombia election

Colombia’s effort to integrate former guerrillas into mainstream politics faces a crucial test in Sunday’s legislative elections, as ex-members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) struggle to win voter support.

Sandra Ramirez, 63, smiles and greets supporters as she dances, waves flags and delivers speeches while campaigning for votes in Bogotá.

Only a few years ago, she was better known as Griselda Lobo, or “Wolf”, a left-wing guerrilla leader and partner of FARC founder and top commander Manuel Marulanda, widely known by the nickname “Sure Shot”.

Ramirez has served as a Colombian senator since 2018 but has never had to win a single vote.

Her party of former fighters was granted 10 guaranteed seats in Congress as part of the Colombian Peace Agreement, which aimed to bring ex-combatants into the political mainstream.

Although some dissident guerrilla factions remain active, the accord transformed the country: about 13,000 fighters and collaborators demobilised and returned to civilian life.

However, Sunday’s election effectively ends that special arrangement.

After more than half a century of attempting to seize power by force, these former guerrillas turned politicians must now rely entirely on the ballot box.

“Scraping for votes has not been easy,” Ramirez told AFP during the campaign.

Her party, Comunes, has received less than one per cent of the vote in previous elections.

Even though another former guerrilla, Gustavo Petro, won the presidency in 2022 at the head of a broad left-wing coalition, many Colombians remain reluctant to forgive former rebels after decades of violent conflict.

Ramirez still faces insults from voters who reject her guerrilla past and accuse her of crimes such as recruiting minors.

Her party leader, former FARC commander Rodrigo Londoño, was recently found responsible for more than 21,000 kidnappings during the conflict.

Ramirez even avoids displaying her party’s logos while campaigning.

According to researcher Rafael Quishpe, there remains an “irreconcilable tension” between right-wing critics of the peace agreement and candidates like Ramirez.

To remain officially recognised as a political party, Comunes needs at least 750,000 votes out of around 41 million voters – a target that may prove difficult to reach.

The campaign season has also been overshadowed by rising political violence, making it one of the most dangerous election periods in decades.

Last year, presidential frontrunner and right-wing senator Miguel Uribe was assassinated while campaigning.

Some dissident former guerrillas are among the suspects in the killing.

Still, nearly a decade after the peace accords and despite bleak electoral prospects, Ramirez and most demobilised fighters say they remain committed to the peace process.

Despite the difficulties, the party “will continue", she said — though without “giant steps”.

“The eight years in Congress were worth it,” she added, if only to end what she called the country’s “long night of war.”