Colombia, FARC announce final peace agreement
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E-mail Xinhua, August 25, 2016
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Image provided by the Colombian Presidency shows the head of the delegation of the Colombian government for peace talks Humberto de la Calle (R) shakes hands with the chief of the delegation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Ivan Marquez, while announcing that both sides reached the final peace agreement to conclude their negotiations that have been held since November 2012 in Havana, Cuba, on Aug. 24, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] |
After four years of peace talks, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) finalized their peace agreement on Wednesday.
This marks an end to the five-decade long conflict in Colombia which left hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions displaced.
Very few world leaders ever get a chance to declare the end to a long and painful conflict. That opportunity fell to Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos who addressed the nation after the deal was signed.
"Today, I speak to you with a deep emotion and great happiness. Today marks the end of suffering and pain, the end of the tragedy of war. On Aug. 24, 2016...this national hope has become reality," said a jubilant Santos.
"We have reached a final, complete and definite agreement to put an end to the war of the FARC," he added.
According to the president, "the FARC will cease to exist and will become a political movement without guns."
He vowed that there would be no impunity for those responsible for the worst crimes, either in the FARC or in Colombia's armed forces. However, Santos pledged that members of the FARC, once they lay down their weapons, will be able to enter democratic political life.
In a major statement, Santos revealed that "the FARC has promised to break off all links they may have had with drug trafficking and to collaborate...to the solution of this problem."
The next stage of the peace process will come on Oct. 2, when the Colombian people will vote in a plebiscite as to whether to accept or reject the contents of the agreement.
To allow the Colombian people to vote fully informed, Santos said that the full text of the agreement will be published on Thursday in the media, on government websites and on social networks.
"We can close the chapter of the war with the FARC and begin the new chapter of peace," he vowed.
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