Colombia’s government peace negotiators hit back on Thursday at critics of a deal to end half a century of war with leftist FARC guerrillas, saying the cost of bringing the rebel fighters into society was much lower than spending on the conflict.
Advertisement
BOGOTA President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday delivered to Colombias Congress the text of the peace deal that government negotiators finalized this week with FARC rebels and which will be put to a vote in a popular referendum on October 2.
Although polls show approval is likely, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is deeply unpopular and many voters may prefer a scenario that would allo. The key players are hailing the deal, President Barack Obama and United States officials praised the triumph of democracy and Colombians celebrated on the streets.
“For the most part the average Colombian today is urban and the war is just something they saw on TV”, Adam Isacson, a senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America told FNL.
The Cuban diplomat Rodolfo Benitez stated: ‘The Colombian government and the FARC announce that we have reached a final, full and definitive accord… on ending the conflict and building a stable and enduring peace’. It has killed 260,000 people, uprooted 6.8 million and left 45,000 missing. From then on, the former rebels will have to win votes like candidates in any other political party. News stories displayed here appear in our category for General and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization.
It led the United States to support the Colombian Government with counterinsurgency aid which sparked a vicious war between the military and FARC, which was formed in 1964.
The specific agreement on the rights of victims, which was finalized and made public at the end of past year, sets out the mechanisms to be implemented to ensure victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparation. Several top rebel commanders were killed and its ranks thinned by half to the current 7,000 guerrillas.
Possible low voter turnout is also a concern because a minimum of 13 percent of the registered voters, or about 4.4 million voters, must vote in favor for the accord to be ratified.
He recalled that the putting down of weapons and the implementation of the bilateral ceasefire will start after the ceremonial signing of the agreement between the warring sides.
“We are celebrating this news… although we still face many challenges before we can say Colombia is a country at peace”, he said.
Advertisement
More than 220,000 have died in the fighting between the government and Marxist rebels over five decades. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works.
