The Verification Gap in Colombia’s Total Peace Policy

Author: Rebecca Sveva Wiget

Editors: Kiana Vašarević, Pranav A Menon & Chiara Caterina Gatti

Colombia’s Total Peace policy declared ceasefires with several armed groups in December 2022, but built no way to verify or penalise a breach. The groups used the pause to expand rather than demobilise, culminating in the ELN’s 2025 offensive in Catatumbo, which displaced more than 56,000 people and helped bring a security-led government to power.

This policy brief examines how the verification gap unravelled Total Peace, what role verification can still play under President de la Espriella’s military-first approach, and how independent verification with defined consequences for a breach could be built into any future tactical pause.

Access the policy brief by clicking here.