President Obama praised a deal between the government of Colombia and Marxist FARC rebels to end one of the world’s longest wars Thursday as proof of the value of diplomacy.
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Mr Durkan has visited Colombia and Cuba on a number of occasions in recent years to support a new peace deal – including meeting with senior government representatives and FARC leader Timochenko.
Critics, led by former President Alvaro Uribe, say the agreement to end half a century of conflict gives rebels amnesty for too many crimes and calls unfairly for subsidising fighters as they readjust to civilian life.
Santos, who has staked his legacy on a deal, must now sell it to his people, who will be asked to vote in an up-or-down referendum.
Sources close to the peace negotiations said there would be a major announcement in Cuba, where the two sides have been in talks for almost four years.
The United Nations, United States and European Union have all hailed the peace deal.
Colombians celebrated the historic agreement even while expressing doubts about whether the guerrillas they’ve grown to loathe will honor their commitments to lay down their weapons, confess human rights abuses and help eradicate illegal coca crops that helped fuel Colombia’s conflict after insurgencies elsewhere in Latin America were defeated.
“To have a long lasting peace we have to guarantee that those raised as armed insurgents can reintegrate into the social and legal life of our country”.
After that, Santos has to convince Colombian voters to ratify the accord in a referendum that’s expected to be held in October.
In his speech, Santos said the peace deal would bring humanitarian benefits to those internally displaced by the decades-old armed conflict, allowing almost 7 million people to return to their home regions and have a dignified life. That is the lowest since he took office in 2010.
If Colombia rejects the deal nobody really knows what is next as the plebiscite is unprecedented and the government has failed to present a Plan B.
“We think we’ve done the best possible job, but it’s the Colombians who will judge us”, chief government negotiator Humberto de la Calle said.
And the government is still fighting a smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), whose ongoing kidnappings have derailed efforts to open peace negotiations. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article. In fact, we have seen an increase in attacks during the peace talks.
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