Juan Manuel Santos

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 has been awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his "decisive efforts to end the 50-year civil conflict in the country which has taken the lives of over 220,000 people and driven another 6 million from their homes," read the decision of the Nobel Committee.

To the dismay of the Greek island folk, who were many considered as favourites to win the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts during the refugees crisis, the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos was the winner of the prestigious award. Santos received the award for his efforts to end the 52-year conflict with left-wing rebels.

The Colombian government and Marxist guerrillas went back to the drawing board on Oct. 4 after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result. 

In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Oct. 2 as too lenient on the rebels. 

Colombians hit their government with a shock defeat on Oct. 2 when they voted by a razor-thin majority to reject a historic peace accord with communist FARC rebels.

CARTAGENA, Colombia - In a historic event, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos shook hands Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri 'Timochenko,' the leader of the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and with this physical gesture, a peace agreement that ended 52 years of war between government forces and the rebels was finally reached.

Tens of thousands of people protested in more than 20 cities across Colombia on April 2 against President Juan Manuel Santos and his government's peace process with the FARC guerrillas.

The United Nations Security Council on Jan. 25 approved the creation of a U.N. mission of unarmed international observers to monitor disarmament should Colombia's government and leftist FARC rebels reach a deal to end Latin America's longest war.

The Colombian government and FARC rebels will sign a definitive peace deal within six months to end a half-century of conflict, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Sept.23, as the two sides announced a major breakthrough.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on July 25 ordered a halt to air strikes against the Marxist-inspired FARC rebels, giving a major boost to stop-start peace talks.

The Colombian government reached a major de-escalation agreement on July 12 with leftist FARC guerrillas, agreeing for the first time to reduce anti-rebel operations in the decades-long armed conflict, diplomats in Havana said.