To avoid that history, Santos has embarked on implementing the Victims and Land Restitution Law. The ambitious measure, signed into law in June, calls for restoring up to 4.9 million acres (an area nearly the size of New Jersey) to those displaced by the internal conflict since 1991, as well as providing reparations to those victimized in the struggles since 1985. The law marks the first time the government has sought to compensate survivors of the brutal conflict, including peasants who were forced off their farms at gunpoint or who fled, fearing for their lives.

Colombia's government deserves credit. Santos has taken the difficult step of recognizing that the state, as well as rebel and paramilitary groups, is responsible for human rights abuses and violence. Moreover, the law makes it easier for those displaced to reclaim land by shifting the burden of proof in restitution cases to the current landowners, who now must demonstrate that they obtained the parcel legally.

Yet as promising as the new legislation is, much more is required, and the United States should assist where possible. Colombia's conflict is far from over. Though the military has handed significant defeats in recent years to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest rebel group, the wanton violence persists. Just days before Santos signed the new law, Ana Fabrica Cordoba, a prominent activist who spoke out on behalf of land restitution, was gunned down in Medellin, the country's second-largest city. At least nine other activists have been killed in the last year.

Santos is on the right path, but his administration must focus international assistance and some of the nearly half a billion dollars in U.S. counter-narcotics aid to help suppress what has been intractable bloodletting and support this humanitarian move. The administration must provide security to those brave enough to reclaim their lands, and must bolster the country's anemic judicial system, which will be charged with handling thousands of new claims. Patience and boldness, both elements of Santos' plan, are essential to the restoration of his nation's stability.