Colombia Reaches New ‘Final’ Peace Agreement With FARC Rebel
Nov 12, 2016 19:34:05 GMT -5
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Post by scumbuster on Nov 12, 2016 19:34:05 GMT -5
Colombia Reaches New ‘Final’ Peace Agreement With FARC Rebels
Colombia’s government has reached a new agreement with Marxist guerrillas to end the nation’s civil conflict, six weeks after voters narrowly rejected a previous deal.
“We have reached a new deal for the end of the armed conflict that includes changes, precisions and additions from the most diverse sectors of society,” the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said in a joint communique.
The new accord between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC aims to address some of the concerns of opponents of the original deal. The government has held weeks of talks with leaders of the “no” campaign, including former President Alvaro Uribe, who had attacked the agreement, saying it was too lenient on a group that kidnapped and murdered Colombians.
Under the terms of the updated agreement, the FARC will use its assets to compensate victims of the conflict. The new text will make clear its respect for the right to private property, and will be fiscally sustainable, the government’s chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle said in Havana, where the peace talks took place. De la Calle didn’t say how the new agreement will be implemented, or whether it will be put to a second plebiscite.
Uribe met with Santos earlier on Saturday and afterward told reporters in an airbase in western Colombia Bogota that he asked that the new agreement “not be definitive,” adding that he and other opposition leaders want to review the text. Uribe has called for tougher penalties for FARC leaders guilty of serious crimes and their exclusion from Congress.
Voters’s rejection of the original deal by 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent left the FARC in limbo, unable to begin the demobilization process and hand over their weapons to the U.N. Despite this, the bilateral ceasefire that was part of the original agreement has held.
Terrorist organization
Formal peace talks between the Santos administration and the FARC started in Cuba in November 2012. Over 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed in conflict, with millions more displaced from their homes.
The FARC, labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S., sought a Cuban-style revolution for Colombia, and mainly operated in remote mountainous and heavily forested regions, ambushing army patrols and blowing up oil pipelines. The government was never able to defeat the group, which has about 6,000 fighters.
The U.S., which had provided military and intelligence support in Colombia’s battle with the FARC, has backed the government’s efforts, and last month Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for his attempts to end the conflict.
Updates with new measures in fourth paragraph.
www.yahoo.com/finance/news/colombia-reaches-final-peace-agreement-232652382.html
Colombia’s government has reached a new agreement with Marxist guerrillas to end the nation’s civil conflict, six weeks after voters narrowly rejected a previous deal.
“We have reached a new deal for the end of the armed conflict that includes changes, precisions and additions from the most diverse sectors of society,” the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said in a joint communique.
The new accord between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC aims to address some of the concerns of opponents of the original deal. The government has held weeks of talks with leaders of the “no” campaign, including former President Alvaro Uribe, who had attacked the agreement, saying it was too lenient on a group that kidnapped and murdered Colombians.
Under the terms of the updated agreement, the FARC will use its assets to compensate victims of the conflict. The new text will make clear its respect for the right to private property, and will be fiscally sustainable, the government’s chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle said in Havana, where the peace talks took place. De la Calle didn’t say how the new agreement will be implemented, or whether it will be put to a second plebiscite.
Uribe met with Santos earlier on Saturday and afterward told reporters in an airbase in western Colombia Bogota that he asked that the new agreement “not be definitive,” adding that he and other opposition leaders want to review the text. Uribe has called for tougher penalties for FARC leaders guilty of serious crimes and their exclusion from Congress.
Voters’s rejection of the original deal by 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent left the FARC in limbo, unable to begin the demobilization process and hand over their weapons to the U.N. Despite this, the bilateral ceasefire that was part of the original agreement has held.
Terrorist organization
Formal peace talks between the Santos administration and the FARC started in Cuba in November 2012. Over 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed in conflict, with millions more displaced from their homes.
The FARC, labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S., sought a Cuban-style revolution for Colombia, and mainly operated in remote mountainous and heavily forested regions, ambushing army patrols and blowing up oil pipelines. The government was never able to defeat the group, which has about 6,000 fighters.
The U.S., which had provided military and intelligence support in Colombia’s battle with the FARC, has backed the government’s efforts, and last month Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for his attempts to end the conflict.
Updates with new measures in fourth paragraph.
www.yahoo.com/finance/news/colombia-reaches-final-peace-agreement-232652382.html