Tight security ahead of Colombia peace ceremony

Demonstrators yell “No to the plebiscite” to protest the government’s peace agreement with FARC during demonstrations Monday.

It still needs to be ratified by voters, who will consider the agreement in a single-issue referendum on October 2. But now, 25 years after the Cold War, Colombia’s is the last major armed conflict in the Americas.

Yet it is worrying that in the wake of the announcement of the end of the conflict, there has been a spike in violence over the last month. Reflecting that history, the final accord commits the government to addressing unequal land distribution that has been at the heart of Colombia’s conflict. It’s a reference to involvement in the drug trade by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The group, which includes thousands more urban militants who provided provisions and intelligence to fighting units, will then begin the transformation into a political movement. The guerrillas would not be in traditional prisons, but would have restricted liberty in designated geographic areas and required to perform community labor to fix damages to victims. The most problematic clause is one that guarantees the rebel group 10 non-voting congressional seats until 2026.

“Human Rights Watch believes that it is of the utmost importance to establish the definition of the principle of responsibility”, he said. They argue, in part, that the accord rewards FARC leaders with impunity. He asked God “to enlighten each Colombian to work conscientiously and with complete freedom, so that in a responsible and informed way, they can participate in making decisions that concern the common good of the entire country, which is so dear to Pope Francis”.

With peace achieved, Santos, a member of a wealthy Bogota family, will likely use the political capital to push his economic agenda, especially tax reforms to compensate for a drop in oil income caused by a fall in energy prices.

Public opinion studies show support for approving the agreement. The consequences of the conflict now ending are serious and ongoing.

“They want to know: Where are my daughter’s remains?”

At the same time, it attempts to bring armed combatants back into society. “We open our hearts to a new dawn, to a brilliant sun full of possibilities that has appeared in the Colombian sky”.

FARC-EP leaders urged the European Union to consider removing the rebel force from the list in January, arguing that it would support the then-pending peace process and helped facilitate militants’ return to society. In-person interpretation services were provided to FARC and Colombian government leaders during negotiations in Oslo.

The agreement is precedent-setting in several ways.

The FARC started in 1964 and, like their mentors in Cuba, was committed to redistributing the wealth, even if it meant by force.

Finally, it will be the first end to a civil war that does not rely primarily on amnesty for all sides, but instead provides new forms of restorative justice.

FARC has also agreed to cooperate with efforts to remove mines from the country.

At a remote jungle camp in El Diamante, western Colombia, FARC fighter David Preciado celebrated the accord by playing football with his comrades.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon shouted “Viva Colombia” at the end of his speech welcoming the peace deal. The negotiations had turned contentious and had dragged on for almost three years.