A little over two centuries ago, enthusiastic because of the French Revolution, Immanuel Kant raised the thesis that the human race would be in constant progress towards betterment, which at the political level implied the achievement of "perpetual peace." Given that the State would be a faithful reflection of the will of its citizens, there would be no conflicts between them within, and outward, at the international level, neither, since each would respect their neighbor and in the long run a universal citizenship would be generated, with shared values ??and interests.
It is clear that Kant's ideal has not been realized. What abounds today are short-term politicians, who only think about conserving power and winning elections at the cost of dividing citizens. This is not the case of Juan Manuel Santos, who was president of Colombia between 2010 and 2018, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, for promoting and carrying out peace agreements with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Interviewed by Javier Moreno about his book The Battle for Peace, the ex-military man and journalist claimed to have had it as his destination port all along, even if to achieve it he had to fight military and political battles for which he was accused of being a traitor. And the thing is that, in order to achieve this ideal, he said, it is necessary to make concessions to the enemy and, above all, persist.
In spite of the announcement of the return to arms of a dissident wing of the FARC (which Santos said was explained by the capture of a relative of Iván Márquez by the DEA, and the consequent delation of him and his relatives); of the economic and political interests of those who need the conflict, who at the time orchestrated the NO campaign for the peace referendum and that are still manifesting themselves today in the multiple murders of social leaders; or the attempts to sabotage the agreements by the government in turn, of the uribista Iván Duque, for Santos the peace process must continue. Not only was it constitutionally shielded, but it also has international support and, more importantly, that of a good part of the citizenship. Once released, he said, the dove must fly alone. In perpetuity, Kant would add.