Exclusive: interview with Norwegian deputy who nominated Gustavo Petro for the Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian environmental deputy Rasmus Hansson nominated the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. According to him, highlights the president's work to achieve peace and considers all his efforts as an “inspiration” for the world.

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Hansson – one of the three deputies of the Norwegian Green party in Parliament and the person responsible for nominating the Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 -, justified his choice by saying that “Petro promotes a creative, modern and comprehensive peace policy” and that “shows in practice that dialogue with armed actors can be an effective means to resolve conflicts and reduce violence.”

According to the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish magnate who established the prizes that bear his name, they can designate candidates for the Peace Prize. university professors in Law, History and Political Sciences, parliamentarians, former laureates and members of international tribunalsamong others.

Only if the proponents make it public can the identity of the candidates be known, since the Norwegian Nobel Committee only publishes the total number of candidates and does not confirm names until 50 years later.

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The Nobel Prize is awarded every year on December 10, coinciding with the anniversary of the death of its founder, in a double ceremony: at the Oslo City Hall, for the Peace Prize, and at the Konserthus in Stockholm, for the others. five awards.

This newspaper spoke exclusively with the Norwegian deputy about the nomination of the Colombian president. “I nominated Gustavo Petro for his introduction of the important environmental aspect in the peace process, not because I expect him to have no flaws,” he stated.

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What was the main motivation for nominating President Gustavo Petro for the Nobel Peace Prize?

The motivation was to take advantage of this opportunity to encourage and reiterate to the world the very important peace process that is being carried out in Colombia. Also as a support to the Colombian people on that path with additional aspects, which is that lasting peace can only be achieved if peace with nature and the climate is included, and that is the message (from Gustavo Petro) that I believe is very constructive for the peace process in Colombia and also very important for the world.

You highlighted that President Petro promotes “inclusive” negotiations, what are you referring to?

Because it has included negotiations with the most important interest groups. Not only with armed groups and former guerrilla groups that have been central in the conflicts, but also with women, youth, indigenous people and marginal groups that also participate.

In Colombia, an agreement was signed in 2016 to end the war with the extinct FARC guerrilla. How do you evaluate from Norway the current situation in Colombia in terms of peace and reconciliation?

As a person from the other side of the planet, I would be reluctant to go too far into evaluating the situation in Colombia. The current situation is too complicated and I don't know enough to make a very solid statement about it. But what I can say is that it is extremely positive that there is a peace process underway. It is a tremendous improvement over the horrible situation that Colombia found itself in when the FARC guerrilla was more active and other groups were also active.

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But at the same time, it is very evident that peace has not yet been fully achieved. Murders and atrocities continue. So, the peace process is very promising, very encouraging, but I also understand that it remains complicated. My small contribution to promoting the advancement of the peace process is to draw the world's attention to it and to draw the world's attention to the importance of including the environment as a requirement for the future peace of all.

The 'total peace' process that Gustavo Petro has promoted has some detractors in Colombia and has received several criticisms for the president's management. What is your opinion of these circumstances?

My take on the criticism is, first of all, I obviously respect that there are many different opinions and points of view represented in this process. And no one can, of course, be surprised that after a period like the one that Colombia has gone through, and continues to go through, there are very strong and different opinions from many groups during the peace process. Nobody expects the peace process to leave everyone happy. Any peace process must conclude with people accepting compromises, and history remaining history in exchange for peace and a more promising future.

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The second thing is that nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize are not the same as believing that people or nominees are saints. Most of the people who have been nominated and received the Peace Prize are people who have participated in many things. They are politicians who represent interests and have made mistakes. I am sure that President Petro has done the same. But I am not going to go into details of anything, neither the criticisms that are made, nor those that are not heard.

The main thing here is that he (Gustavo Petro) has been nominated for his introduction of the important environmental aspect in the peace process, not because I expect him to be without defects.

In any case, do you believe that Petro's nomination for the Nobel Prize can have a positive impact on peace efforts in Colombia?

That's my hope. That is why I nominated him (Gustavo Petro), because I wanted to take advantage of my opportunity to draw attention to the peace process of the Colombian people and to all its positive and promising aspects, from which the world can learn.

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As a Norwegian politician, I have followed the peace process in Colombia from afar for a long time. Many Norwegians, as you know, have participated in that process in various ways. So, as part of that, I have this opportunity and I think that drawing the world's attention to the process can also encourage everyone involved in it to redouble their efforts to conclude it.

Former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 precisely for his efforts to end the armed conflict in our country. Do you see them as similar cases?

The two processes are very close to each other. But the reason I nominated President Petro, despite the fact that the former president (Juan Manuel Santos) received the Nobel Peace Prize not long ago, is, as I have mentioned, the new aspect that President Petro has introduced into the peace process: the recognition that lasting peace between people cannot be achieved without peace with nature and the environmentand that is a message that the entire planet needs to hear, because with all the struggles and all the conflicts in the world, that is the only way forward for everyone in any conflict zone.

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We have to understand that part of the reason for our conflicts is our relationship with nature and the climate around us, and part of the solution to those conflicts is to include peace with nature and the environment and climate.

In recent months, Gustavo Petro has gained a certain prominence at the international level due to his public statements regarding, for example, the war in Gaza and the climate crisis. What does he think about it?

I think that President Petro is playing an important role exactly because he comes from a country that is fighting hard to achieve a peaceful solution to an extremely complicated and demanding period, and the fact that he, despite that very complicated history, still focus on the environment and climate aspects attracts attention.

Also the fact that he has gone much further than most leaders in terms of declaring no more oil and gas exploration and that he has also achieved a lot in protecting Colombia's rainforest makes him a leading voice among the world leaders, who are not always as farsighted as him in this regard. So he sets an example that is being noticed around the world. The first time I noticed President Petro was when I found out about the position he had taken on these issues.

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How do you think the international community could contribute effectively to building peace in Colombia?

It is a difficult question because I am not sure I know enough about the realities and details of the conflict in Colombia to outline any kind of recipe for how other states could contribute, but it is obvious that, first of all, active support for the entire process and all those who participate in the peace process is something that the world could contribute. And of course, It is very important that countries refrain from doing the opposite, which is interfering in a negative way or siding with some groups that can cause conflicts to break out again in Colombia.

After learning of the nomination, President Petro said on his X account that the news took him by surprise and moved him. However, he said he believes the award should go to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. What do you think about that?

It is a very respectable position, which means that President Petro is not very interested in promoting himself, and that is a curious, nice position. On the other hand, the process of nominating candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize consists, as you know, in that Norwegian parliamentarians are in a position to nominate people and organizations, and we do so. So there will be maybe 100 or maybe 150 different candidates for the award committee to evaluate. That, in any case, will not conclude until November of this year.

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The contribution of all of us is to ensure that there will be many very good candidates and, of course, the horrible things happening in Gaza are an extremely good candidate. It is necessary to present good candidates, and my contribution this time was to shed light on Colombia's path towards peace.

WILLIAM MORENO HERNÁNDEZ
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
TIME