Colombian corporations joined hands with their mass media and the Catholic Church to promote peace and reconciliation while ongoing peace talks with rebel group FARC continue to suffer low approval ratings.
In the campaign supported by almost all mass media, famous participants appeared on national and social media claiming they “are able” to promote peace and reconciliation amid growing skepticism about the talks that have been ongoing since late 2012.
The campaign, inaugurated in the exclusive Nogal club in the capital Bogota, was initiated by the ANDI, Colombia’s largest business association.
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“The message of the ANDI foundation and its allies want to transmit is that something this big should involve me as a Colombian,” said ANDI chairman Bruce MacMaster. “Everybody contributes his own, a brick to build a future where differences aren’t expressed with violence.”
According to MacMaster, the campaign is not a government campaign, but a campaign “of the people.”
However, according to pollster Gallup, the Colombian people are mostly skeptical about attempts to negotiate peace with the FARC.
According to the latest poll, 53% of Colombians oppose the talks. Only 42% approve. This opposition to the talks is fed by a pessimism over the outcome of the talks; 49% of Colombians said to not believe the talks will result in a peace agreement.
Support for peace talks with FARC
Sources
- Datexco poll results
- Campaña Soy Capaz (ANDI)
