Juan Manuel Santos Quotes - Page 2

Good friends don't have to visit each other every day.

You can't settle a 50-year conflict in 52 weeks.

For decades, Colombia has been accused of being the world's principal provider of cocaine. If this comes to an end, it would be a dramatic change for our country - which has been suffering more than any other from the consequences of drug-trafficking.

We have had this happen in the past, right in Colombia: there were amnesties for everybody, guerrilla members were elected mayors, senators. Today there are senators who are - who were previously guerrillas.

I don't like to generate too many expectations.

The Bolivarian revolution has no future and it has shown a lack of results.

A perfect peace is not possible; it doesn't exist.

In any symmetrical war in today's world, it is necessary to have regional support.

The notion that you do not negotiate with terrorists is not the history of humanity or of the world.

If you analyze the production of coca in Colombia, you will realize that it is like economic cycles. It goes up and down, it goes up and down depending on the circumstances.

The fight against drug trafficking by the Colombian government has been present, and the Americans themselves are the first to recognize that.

At this moment, I don't think people would back the old-fashioned Marxist-Leninist ideas of FARC. But I do hope that the rebels will continue to pursue their agenda by legal means and not through violence.

Colombia is applauded for the efforts that we continue to make to combat drug trafficking.

The Colombian economy is very strong. We have one of the highest rates of growth in Latin America.

I would never accept general impunity for the guerrillas!

If we are giving judicial benefits to one part, we should give them to the other part as well.

Unfortunately, my rivals are spreading all kinds of suspicions for political reasons that are absolutely not true. They've tried accusing me of agreeing to dismantle the army, of jeopardizing private property, of giving the pensions of policemen to the guerillas - all kinds of lies. What they want is for people to be afraid of peace.

I fight terrorism as if there was no peace process, and I negotiate the peace process as if there was no terrorism.

There are times for making war and times for making peace.

I have the complete support of the military. I personally served in the navy.

It's in the interest of the U.S. to maintain a strong democracy in Colombia.

I have had extremely good relations with the United States and with both parties (Republicans and Democrats), and I hope to continue to have these good relations, which I, again repeating, do not consider to be mutually exclusive with having good relations with Venezuela or Ecuador or whichever country in South America.

No one, no one has hit the FARC harder than I have.

When you have another person take part in the interview, you must notify the interviewee.

For many years, they said the drug lords in Colombia were unbeatable, but all the same, we've eliminated all the big capos (as the drug lords are called in Colombia). The homicide rate is as low as it was 40 years ago and the kidnapping rate has dropped to the level of 1964. Now we'll be able to bring down the street criminals specializing in extortion and robbery.