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Ten years ago, we were seen as a virtually failed state, but today we are a vibrant democracy. You can walk safely through the streets of Bogota these days.

Juan Manuel Santos

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Juan Manuel Santos
Age: 73
Born: 1951
Born: August 10
Economist
Journalist
Lawyer
Politician
President Of Colombia
Bogota
Colombia
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
Democracy
Vibrant
Days
Safely
Seen
Virtually
State
Failed
States
Ten
Today
Streets
Years
Walk
Walks

More quotes by Juan Manuel Santos

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Today, we must acknowledge, that war has not been won.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Europe would be well advised to pay more attention to Latin America. The emerging economies are the engines of the global economy. Colombia has done too little to improve its reputation in Europe.
Juan Manuel Santos
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I remember in 2000, when President Clinton came to Cartagena just before Plan Colombia started, the country was on the verge of becoming a failed state. Today, we are one of the most solid democracies, where institutions are working, where the scandals such as false positives have come to light because of those functioning institutions.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Uribe and I have very good relations. I owe him loyalty, I admire him, he did great things for our country, and I think that because of what he did, I can now concentrate on different issues, different from what he concentrated on.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Waging war is much more popular than negotiating, because there you need to compromise.
Juan Manuel Santos
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I say this as the president of the country which has suffered more deaths, more blood and more sacrifices in this war.
Juan Manuel Santos
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We must rebuild Colombia, starting with ourselves, our hearts, put resentment aside, put hatred aside, put envy aside. The only thing that those attitudes accomplish is to sow violence and sow death and suffering.
Juan Manuel Santos
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The notion that you do not negotiate with terrorists is not the history of humanity or of the world.
Juan Manuel Santos
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If you analyze the production of coca in Colombia, you will realize that it is like economic cycles. It goes up and down, it goes up and down depending on the circumstances.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Colombia has a huge variety of plant and animal species, and we have enormous potential. Small and mid-sized companies should come to Colombia. From here, they have access to the entire Latin American market.
Juan Manuel Santos
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I've not lived one single day of peace in Colombia, and 90 percent of people here say the same thing. We have gotten used to living in a war - we don't even react to massacres.
Juan Manuel Santos
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To make peace, it is necessary to know how to make war.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Democracy is like three oxen pulling a plough. The oxen are the independent powers, but you have to walk in the same direction otherwise, you cannot plough and that is what was happening in Colombia. One ox was walking in one direction, the other in another direction, so the democracy was not working.
Juan Manuel Santos
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At this moment, I don't think people would back the old-fashioned Marxist-Leninist ideas of FARC. But I do hope that the rebels will continue to pursue their agenda by legal means and not through violence.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Unfortunately, my rivals are spreading all kinds of suspicions for political reasons that are absolutely not true. They've tried accusing me of agreeing to dismantle the army, of jeopardizing private property, of giving the pensions of policemen to the guerillas - all kinds of lies. What they want is for people to be afraid of peace.
Juan Manuel Santos
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One doesn't make peace with one's friends. One makes peace with one's enemies.
Juan Manuel Santos
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I don't like to generate too many expectations.
Juan Manuel Santos
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The rebels will be thinking about retaliation, what we have to do is stop stop and transform it into a spiral of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Colombia is a different country today. The state is now present in every single corner, the drug lords are in jail or dead. So we have the means to guarantee the security of FARC politicians.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Right here, in this same headquarters, 52 years ago, the Convention that gave the birth certificate to the war on drugs was approved.
Juan Manuel Santos