Santos — who has staked his legacy on making peace — had previously said that the army would halt its ceasefire at the end of this month if no solution to the impasse was found by then. Santos said he made the decision to extend the ceasefire after a student at one of the meetings told him that “in the army and among the guerrillas there are young people who are aware of what is happening, who hope not to have to return to shooting.”

In his address Santos urged Colombians to “achieve forever an end to the violence, the return of the displaced to their homes.”

The Colombian leader won the Nobel Peace Prize just a few days after voters shot down the historic accord in a referendum that would have ended more than 52 years of conflict. “For that reason, and at the request of the students, I have taken the decision to extend the ceasefire until Dec. 31.”

The ceasefire can be extended further, but Santos said he hopes a new deal is approved long before then. My objection to who won the prize isn’t that the deal was too lenient to the FARC (for the record, I am a Colombian citizen who favoured the peace agreement) or that it was ironical (after all, nearly a century of Nobel peace prizes haven’t ended war, so past laureate’s effort’s efficacy are open to doubt), but to the fact that only President Santos won the prize. Led by hardline opposition senator and former President Alvaro Uribe, the "No" side wants leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to lose their freedom for at least five years and be banned from elected office. Uribe opposed FARC leaders receiving non-traditional sentences like clearing landmines, and instead insisted that those found guilty of war crimes should be confined for between five and eight years, even if they are held on farms. Although the FARC has said it is willing to hear new ideas, Uribe's proposals may be difficult for its leadership to accept, given they have repeatedly refused to consider jail time and want to form a political party.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos extends his ceasefire with the FARC rebels through the end of the year.