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We have had this happen in the past, right in Colombia: there were amnesties for everybody, guerrilla members were elected mayors, senators. Today there are senators who are - who were previously guerrillas.

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
Past
Mayors
Today
Previously
Right
Senators
Elected
Members
Guerrilla
Happen
Guerrillas
Everybody
Colombia
Happens
Amnesty

More quotes by Juan Manuel Santos

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I don't like to generate too many expectations.
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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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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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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Today, we must acknowledge, that war has not been won.
Juan Manuel Santos
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If we act together on the drug problem, with a comprehensive vision devoid of ideological or political biases, we will be able to prevent much harm and violence!
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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Waging war is much more popular than negotiating, because there you need to compromise.
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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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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The fight against drug trafficking by the Colombian government has been present, and the Americans themselves are the first to recognize that.
Juan Manuel Santos
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If we are giving judicial benefits to one part, we should give them to the other part as well.
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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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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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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I fight terrorism as if there was no peace process, and I negotiate the peace process as if there was no terrorism.
Juan Manuel Santos
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Social housing, education, health, jobs and sustainable surroundings. Those are my priorities.
Juan Manuel Santos
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More than 70 percent of Colombians want peace. The rest are afraid of the price to be paid. But even they will realize that their worst fears will not come true. I'm quite optimistic that Colombians do back an agreement with the FARC.
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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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