March 13, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Colombia believe their government should continue its negotiations with illegal armed groups, according to a poll by Gallup. 61 per cent of respondents support a dialogue that leads to a peace deal, while 34 per cent favour a military solution.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Colombia believe their government should continue its negotiations with illegal armed groups, according to a poll by Gallup. 61 per cent of respondents support a dialogue that leads to a peace deal, while 34 per cent favour a military solution.

Colombia has endured more than 40 years of armed conflict between left-wing guerrillas and the government, and more recently anti-guerrilla, right-wing paramilitary groups. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) finance their operations through kidnappings, and by trading drugs and precious metals. The paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) was originally assembled to consolidate efforts against the FARC and ELN.

The administration of Colombian president Álvaro Uribe is currently holding separate peace negotiations with the AUC and the ELN. However, the FARC—Colombia's largest guerrilla group—remains active.

Uribe has been Colombia's president since August 2002. In the May 2006 election, he won a new four-year term with 62.2 per cent of all cast ballots. Uribe was able to run again after the House of Representatives and the Constitutional Court officially sanctioned a plan to allow presidential re-election in the South American country.

On Mar. 8, Uribe discussed the current state of affairs, saying, "These Marxist guerrillas fomented the combination of all forms of battle. They infiltrated politics. They infiltrated the universities. They infiltrated the labour movement. They infiltrated the peasants' movement. This is a truth that has not been shown."

Polling Data

Which of these solutions would you prefer to solve the guerrilla problem in Colombia?

	Mar. 2007	Dec. 2006	Oct. 2006
Dialogue that leads to a peace deal	61%	62%	60%
No dialogue, military solution	34%	33%	36%

Source: Gallup
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,000 Colombian adults in the cities of Bogotá, Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla, conducted from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.