Cartagena (Colombia): The Colombian government and the leftist FARC rebel force signed a historic peace accord today end a half-century conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Timoleon "Timochenko" Jimenez, signed the deal at a ceremony in the Caribbean city of Cartagena, prompting loud cheers from the crowd which included numerous international dignitaries.
The signing followed a four-year process to end Latin America's last major armed conflict. The accord remains to be ratified in a referendum next week.
"Today we are experiencing the happiness of a new dawn for Colombia," President Juan Manuel Santos wrote on Twitter ahead of the signing.
He called it "a new stage in our history -- one of a country in peace!"
The two signed with pens made out of real bullets for the occasion.
The guests at the signing included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Vatican's Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and an array of Latin American leaders including Cuban President Raul Castro.
The 2,500 attendees wore white for the 70-minute ceremony. The European Union decided to suspend the FARC from its list of terrorist groups once the agreement is signed, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.
The suspension will allow the temporary lifting of sanctions linked to FARC's presence on the list – including the freezing of assets.
The country's second-largest rebel force, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN), agreed to hold fire ahead of the referendum.
The government has yet to begin planned peace talks with the Cuban-inspired ELN, saying it must first stop kidnappings.
Guerrilla armies were common across Latin America in the latter half of the 20th century. But now, 25 years after the Cold War, Colombia's is the last major armed conflict in the Americas.
The FARC, a Marxist guerrilla group, launched its war on the Colombian government in 1964, in the aftermath of a peasant uprising that was put down by the army.
Over the decades, the conflict has drawn in several leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs. Colombian authorities estimate it has killed 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and uprooted 6.9 million.
Under the deal, the FARC is now to relaunch as a political party. Timochenko, 57, is expected to remain its leader.
Comments
0 comment