Former President Juan Manuel Santos had remained cautious about the future of the Casa de Nariño government after August 7, 2026, when Gustavo Petro's successor will take office. But this Thursday, October 16, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate broke his silence and revealed his ideological and political preference.
He recorded a video and posted it on social media in which he expressed broad sympathy for the ideological center and rejected political extremes.
"Extremes only serve to divide," he stated. And he considered that moderation and the center"are the way forward." "Today we have a leftist extremist," he said. At the same time, in the video, he showed the image of President Gustavo Petro.
"If a right-wing extremist arrives, all we end up with is an ungovernable country. And the likelihood of social unrest and lockdowns will increase. And so, amidst shouting, the country doesn't move forward," he said.
In Santos's opinion,"we need moderation, honest discussions to solve problems, not to win fights. No one has magic solutions. And what's coming is serious: in public order, in fiscal matters, in energy, in health."
According to him,"instead of listening to real ideas, we are carried away by the noise of extremes that only promise to destroy the other side."
“It is time to reclaim common sense, to return to the balance proposed by the third way. The market, to the extent possible, and the State, to the extent necessary. The next government must be one of consensus and not one of eliminating the other, because that is the only way forward,” he considered. Juan Manuel Santos has not openly said who his presidential candidate is, but in the opinion of various political sectors that know him, they do not rule out that he is close to candidates such as Sergio Fajardo, Claudia López, and, eventually, Roy Barreras, who, although he has not publicly stated that he will aspire to the Presidency, will most likely be part of the broad front that includes the left, progressive, and centrist sectors in March 2026.
With this stance, Santos once again distances himself from Petro, a president who supported him in his presidential elections and who bet on the peace process between the Nobel laureate and the FARC that was signed in Havana.
“I do not support Gustavo Petro, I did not vote for him. The only thing I asked of him was that he implement the Peace Agreement (with the FARC), which he has not done. But I have never been on the side or supporting or being part of the Government. I have been independent, I have not been involved in politics,” he added.
The Nobel Prize winner's version was not very credible because more than six officials were in the Petro Government and are recognized Santistas.
One of them was Alejandro Gaviria, who served as Minister of Health in the Santos administration. Also serving was former Minister of the Environment Luis Gilberto Murillo, who served as Colombian Foreign Minister during the Petro administration.
History repeated itself with former Colombian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Roy Barreras, who makes no secret of his closeness to Santos.
