President Juan Manuel Santos hailed the agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as an opportunity to turn the page on decades of political violence that has claimed more than 220,000 lives and driven more than five million people from their homes.
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It was designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
“We’re going to hear exactly what has happened, what now needs to be done by the U.N.”, Britain’s deputy U.N. ambassador Peter Wilson told reporters Thursday.
Ban said earlier this month that the political mission will operate in 40 widely dispersed locations and require about 450 observers and a number of civilians.
It will now go to a plebiscite vote on October 2.
Beyond the major humanitarian and social benefits, one of Santos’ key arguments for peace was economic benefits for Colombia.
Her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, has yet to comment.
Billions of dollars in U.S. counterinsurgency aid helped the government turn the tide against the group, which suffered as top commanders were killed and thousands of foot soldiers abandoned the insurgency.
The end seems near for one of the world’s longest running conflicts, with the announcement of a peace deal between the government of Colombia and the Marxist rebels of FARC.
Santos said on the steps of congress that the cease-fire would take effect at midnight Monday.
The Farc declared a unilateral ceasefire over a year ago, but Santos refused to grant a formal truce until talks were concluded, though he ended aerial bombardments of guerrilla camps.
USA tanks and army supplies helped Colombia’s government thin the population of the rebel troops; about 50 percent of the rebel forces died in battle in 2016.
The team that spent almost four years negotiating with the FARC in Havana held a news conference to defend the deal, saying the government and society must help integrate the fighters, some of whom have spent decades in camps. At the same time, CAFOD warns that there are still a number of obstacles lying ahead on the road to lasting peace.
After the announcement from Havana, President Santos addressed the nation from the Presidential Palace stating: “Today marks the beginning of the end of the suffering, the pain and the tragedy of the war”.
Most opinion polls suggest Colombians will back the deal but Santos, who has staked his legacy on peace, will face fierce opposition from powerful sectors of the country who believe the only solution is to finish the FARC militarily.
Humberto de la Calle notes that when previous Colombian peace drives failed, it took at least a decade to renew them.
Colombia’s government and leftist FARC fighters have finalized a deal that should put an end to war and open a path to a peaceful future.
The government published the final text of the peace accord yesterday and it weighs in at nearly 300 pages.
Members of his family and Cabinet walked with him the short distance from his official residence to hand-deliver the 297-page accord to lawmakers, a move required for Colombia to hold a national referendum on the peace deal that Santos announced for October 2. That’s not as much as in previous years, but it’s better than the forecasts for other countries in the region like Chile, Brazil and Argentina.
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This is a historical moment for Colombia and its citizens and hopefully it will be a moment to last. There is, therefore, a very real risk that such crimes will continue even after the peace agreement is signed.
