“I order all our commanders and units and each one of our combatants to definitively cease fire and hostilities against the Colombian state from midnight tonight”, top FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez said in a declaration before the media.
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FARC supremo Rodrigo Londono gave the ceasefire order from Havana, where the two sides conducted four years of peace negotiations.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Friday the military would cease hostilities on Monday.
Santos and Timochenko are due to sign a final, full peace agreement sometime between September 20-26.
“Rivalries and resentment must remain in the past”. “We never lost hope that this fortunate day would come for our country and the population”, he said.
“The end of the conflict has arrived!”
The fighting over ideology, territory and political differences involves FARC, the military and right-wing paramilitary forces. These milestones are crucial for the Colombian peace process.
The peace agreement envisions some 7,500 FARC guerillas going to collection points to lay down their arms under United Nations supervision within six months.
Farc fighters will ratify the accord in September and a Colombian referendum on the agreement will follow on 2 October.
Under the peace accord, FARC’s yet-to-be-named political movement will be guaranteed five seats in both the lower house and senate.
In addition, 16 lower house seats will be created for grassroots activists in rural areas traditionally neglected by the state and in which existing political parties will be banned from running candidates.
As part of the deal, the rebels will disarm and those who want to will be allowed to transition to a political movement or party.
After 2026, both arrangements would end and the former rebels would have to demonstrate their political strength at the ballot box.
The two sides will also work together to compensate victims of the fighting, fight drug trafficking, clear mines and search for missing persons.
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In March Colombia announced the start of peace negotiations with the second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), but the rebels have yet to meet the government’s precondition of releasing all of their hostages and stop all kidnapping.
