This week, Colombia's President, Juan Manual Santos, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his attempts to establish a peace treaty between the Colombian government and FARC. FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, are a far left rebel group which was formed in the 1960's to combat the inequality of Colombia. The group tends to target the military and police forces of Colombia, but have killed civilians. The peace treaty was designed to potentially end a war between the government and FARC that has been underway for over fifty years.

A referendum was proposed to create a peace treaty between the FARC and the Colombian government, following a ceasefire that was established between the two groups. The referendum was put up to a popular vote, the Colombian people were given the opportunity to vote yes or no for the treaty. Polls prior to the vote heavily favored a "yes" for the peace treaty. However, the vote resulted in a close rejection of the referendum, with 50.2% of voters voting against the peace treaty. The resulting vote was shocking not only to Colombia but to the global community. The vote, however, was not an accurate representation of the Colombian population, as the voter turnout was low, with only 38% of voters actually voting.

Despite the failed vote for the peace treaty, the Colombian president, as mentioned before, was awarded the Nobel Peace prize this year for his effort to pass it. The ceasefire between FARC and the Colombian government is still underway; however, it is due to end by October 31st.