Colombians Vote No on Landmark Peace Deal, Shocking the World

FEATURING JENNIFER MCCOY – The world was shocked over the weekend when Colombians went to the polls on Sunday and voted against a landmark peace deal that was to end 52 years of war and violence and that took 4 years to work out.

The vote was extremely close with 50.2% against the deal and 49.8% for. Voter turnout was very low, at only 37%, which might be attributed to the torrential rains.

Colombia is in the midst of a ceasefire for the past month that was meant to mark the beginning of peace and a process for justice. Now, the question remains, is the peace deal over or can it be salvaged?

Jennifer McCoy, a Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and was founding Director of the Global Studies Institute at Georgia State University. She is a specialist on democratization, democracy promotion, mediation, conflict prevention, election processes, election observation, and Latin American politics. She has authored or edited six books and dozens of articles.