The Colombian government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels have reached a peace agreement to end their half-century war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
After nearly four years of negotiations in Cuba, the two sides on Wednesday announced a final deal, which Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said would be put to a decisive referendum on Oct. 2.
“The Colombian government and the FARC announce that we have reached a final, full and definitive accord ... on ending the conflict and building a stable and enduring peace,” the two sides said in a joint statement read out in Havana by Cuban diplomat Rodolfo Benitez. “We don’t want one more victim in Colombia.”
Photo: Reuters
In a national address after the announcement, Santos said the deal marked “the end of the suffering, the pain and the tragedy of war.”
He launched a campaign for a “Yes” vote in the referendum, which he said would be the most important election of Colombian voters’ lives.
“This is a historic and unique opportunity ... to leave behind this conflict and dedicate our efforts to building a more secure, safe, equitable, educated country, for all of us, for our children and grandchildren,” Santos said.
Many Colombians took to the streets late on Wednesday night, waving the national flag and carrying balloons emblazoned with the word “Yes” to show their support for peace.
“It’s hard to believe that we have lived to see such things, it’s historic for the country,” 24-year-old Marcela Cardenas said, before adding that she believes the transformation will be difficult.
Local television in Colombia’s Caribbean city of Barranquilla showed a rapper chanting: “Forward with peace, forward.”
The conflict began with the founding of the FARC in 1964, at a time when guerrilla armies were fighting to sow revolution throughout Latin America.
Over the years, it has killed 260,000 people, uprooted 6.8 million and left 45,000 missing.
Along the way, it has drawn in several rebel groups and paramilitaries. Drug cartels have also fueled the violence in the world’s largest cocaine-producing country.
Three previous peace processes with the FARC ended in failure.
After a major offensive by the army from 2006 to 2009 — led by then-Colombian minister of defense Santos — a weakened FARC agreed to come to the negotiating table.
Over the past few days, the two sides had been discussing a range of unresolved topics, sources from the two delegations in Havana told reporters.
FARC chief negotiator Ivan Marquez called the accord a new chapter for Colombia.
“We can now say that fighting with weapons ends and with ideas begins,” he said from Havana.
The peace deal comprises six agreements reached at each step of the arduous negotiations.
They cover justice for people killed in the conflict, land reform, political participation for ex-rebels, fighting drug trafficking, disarmament and the implementation and monitoring of the accord.
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