After 50 years, could Colombia finally have awoken from its nightmare? | María José Pizarro Rodríguez

With our new progressive president and coalition government, we now have a chance at peace and unity - let's not waste it

Maria Jose Pizarro is a Colombian senator and member of the progressive Historic Pact coalition

For more than 50 years, Colombia has suffered a war that has killed nearly 450,000 civilians and displaced more than 8 million people from their territories. My father, Carlos Pizarro Leongomez - once a commander of the guerrilla movement M-19 - signed a peace agreement with the Colombian state after years of insurgency, and stood as a presidential candidate in 1990. Forty-seven days after the agreement had been signed, he was assassinated. This event changed my life, broke my family, and devastated our country.

Now at last, we may be nearing the end of our national nightmare. On 7 August, Gustavo Petro was sworn in as president of Colombia, joining Afro-Colombian land defender Francia Marquez at the helm of the country's first progressive government. In his inaugural speech, Petro promised his incoming government will bring true and definitive peace" to Colombia. To do this, he has invited historic political opponents to the table to reach a common agreement through which both guerrilla and paramilitary forces will lay down their arms.

Maria Jose Pizarro is a Colombian senator and member of the progressive Historic Pact coalition.