This paper evaluates the impact of the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement with the FARC-EP on the quality of democracy between 2016 and 2024, focusing on individual freedoms, right to physical integrity and polarization. This project uses a mixed-method approach, analyzing electoral data, violence statistics, public opinion surveys, and media discourse as primary and secondary resources. This study shows that the legacy of the Agreement is ambivalent and contested. On the one hand, it was able to open spaces in politics when left-wing Gustavo Petro was elected as president and in the seats granted to Comunes (FARC-EP political party). However, it has failed to protect basic physical security against civilians, ex-combatants and social leaders. There has also been an increase in polarization since the 2016 plebiscite. The result suggests that Colombian democracy in the post-agreement period is characterized by a painful paradox: a more inclusive political arena coexists with insecurity and social conflict, highlighting the challenges of implementing an integral peace.
María Alejandra Solera Díaz (Tue,) studied this question.