The Colombian government and the country’s main rebel group on Thursday signed a new peace deal, hoping to salvage the accords and skip the ballot box after voters rejected them in a referendum last month.
If the ceremony had a sense of familiarity, it was because it had all been done earlier this year. In late September, the rebels — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) — and the government pledged a new start at a signing ceremony before world leaders in the port town of Cartagena after a half-century of war.
However, on Oct. 2, only days after the signing, Colombians took to the polls in a referendum on the peace deal and knocked it down by a slim margin.
Photo: AFP
In another twist, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize later that week, with the judges urging him to not let the agreement slip out of reach.
Top FARC commander Rodrigo Londono also spoke at the signing and asked Colombians to forgive the group for crimes during the conflict, urging the government to enact the peace agreement swiftly.
Instead of facing another referendum, the accords are now to head to the Colombian Congress, where Santos’ governing coalition holds a majority, making approval far more likely.
The new deal sets clearer protections for landowners, as the government establishes a greater presence in rural areas and gives judges more latitude in cases involving rebel drug trafficking, changes that conservatives had pushed for.
It also bans the rebels from running in certain newly created congressional districts in post-conflict zones.
However, the accords stopped short of the demands of some referendum “No” voters, many of whom wanted the government to ban those involved in war crimes from any political participation.
The new deal also did not open the door to tough prison sentences for FARC members, which the government said would be a nonstarter for the rebels.
Before the referendum, months of polling had predicted a wide margin of victory for the agreement, creating such a sense of confidence that the government held its first public signing before the vote took place.
The new agreement was announced in Havana this month, with negotiators contending that it addressed a range of topics, including how courts might address drug trafficking offenses, that had troubled voters.
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