Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is one of 259 nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize due to his willingness to strike a peace accord with the country’s largest guerilla group.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government started peace negotiation last November. The negotiations are tied to issues of agrarian policy, arms surrender and incorporation of guerilla members into civil society.

The accord establishing a framework for the peace process was signed on August 26, 2012 in Havana after six months of secret exploratory discussions.  Santos has been given much credit for pushing the peace accords forward.

The FARC has battled a succession of Colombian governments since 1964 and are beginning the third peace process in almost 50 years of armed conflict, with Cuba and Norway as mediators and with Chile and Venezuela as observers.