From the start of peace talks between The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government of Juan Manuel Santos in 2012, negotiators looked to the experiences of Northern Ireland and South Africa for inspiration.
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COLOMBIAN government and leftist rebels, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have closed peace talks in Cuba having reached a comprehensive and definitive final agreement.
The weapons will initially be stored in containers and then later melted down to make three peace monuments – one in Colombia and two others at the United Nations headquarters in NY and in Cuba, which hosted the three and a half years of formal peace talks that concluded on Wednesday with the definitive accord. Uribe’s Democratic Center Party is actively campaigning against the deal in the upcoming referendum because he alleges it legitimizes the rebels who have funded their decades-long war through extensive drug trafficking, particularly cocaine trafficking.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Richard Becker, from the ANSWER Coalition in San Francisco, and Brent Budowsky, a columnist at The Hill from Washington, to discuss a recent peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC rebels.
And while this may be the closest Colombians have come to peace in decades, some aren’t optimistic about what the deal means.
The agreement [press release, in Spanish] in Havana, Cuba ends an over 50 year conflict between the FARC rebels (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP) and the government.
“We are in a ceasefire (with the FARC), but will not cease persecuting crime”, Luis Carlos Villegas said.
In June, the Secretary-General travelled to Havana, where he witnessed the bilateral signing of a ceasefire and the laying down of arms and noted that the “peace process validates the perseverance of all those around the world who work to end violent conflict not through the destruction of the adversary, but through the patient search for compromise”.
Trinidad was extradited to the United States in 2004 on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering under the watch of former far-right President Alvaro Uribe, who opposes the new peace deal. Opposition to the accord has been led by a former president, Alvaro Uribe, now a senator and a fierce critic of Santos.
The fate of the FARC-government peace accord will then be in the voters’ hands.
The defense minister also indicated Friday that 16,500 soldiers and police would be available to help carry out the peace agreement.
The deal requires rebels to leave their hideouts in the mountains and jungles, give up their weapons and move to 23 “relocation zones” and eight existing rebel camps. Special courts will be created to judge serious crimes committed during the conflict.
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This post was syndicated from The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria.
