Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londoño
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia (FARC) Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, known, Timoshenko signed a final peace agreement. According to El Colombiano, it happened at a ceremony in Bogota on Thursday, November 24.
“Let the word remain the only weapon of Colombians,” said the leader of the FARC. The President, in turn, stressed that the new agreement includes the wishes of the people who disapproved the previous version. According to him, the parties undertake to work together to restore the most damaged from years of conflict regions.
On 13 November it was announced that the government of Colombia and FARC rebels failed to agree on the text of the peace Treaty. The document had to be redrafted, as the population of the country a small majority rejected the first option. Opponents of the agreement argued that it was too soft toward the rebels and gives them unreasonable preference.
In the new Treaty includes provisions proposed by various stakeholders. In particular, the FARC will have to declare their assets, and they will be paid compensation to the victims of the conflict. At the same time representatives of the movement will retain the ability to be elected to various authorities.
Left-wing rebels, was originally the armed wing of the local Communist party, waged war against the Colombian government since 1964. It was the longest conflict in Latin America, it has killed 220 thousand people and millions became refugees.
For his peacemaking efforts of the Colombian President Santos awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2015.