Colombia and FARC sign historic ceasefire accord, peace within sight

The two sides reached an agreement on the bilateral ceasefire as well as the definition of concentration zones for guerrillas.

Presidents Raul Castro of Cuba, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Michelle Bachelet of Chile and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the ceremony, the statement said. “We should have an announcement tomorrow”, FARC negotiator Pastor Alape told AFP. This idea was echoed by tens of thousands of Colombians on social networks with the hashtag #ElÚltimoDíaDeLaGuerra trending in the South American nation on Wednesday.

The event Thursday is expected to bring an end to more than 50 years of conflict that began in 1964.

While the agreement comes months after a self-imposed March deadline set by the two sides, USA officials hailed the development Wednesday as “an important step forward” in the elusive effort to formally end a guerrilla war that has killed more than 220,000 people, displaced millions of Colombians over the past half-century and proved a source of instability and drug trafficking across Latin America.

Since peace talks started in 2012, FARC have voluntarily entered into periods of unilateral ceasefire.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said this week he hopes to seal a full peace deal by July 20.

In Havana, the two sides had already reached agreement on several issues, including land reform, justice for victims of the conflict, the future political participation of the rebels, and a united front against drug trafficking.

The agreement includes a timetable for laying down arms and a number of guarantees for the security of the guerrillas when they disarm.

“This progress is a testament to the courage and leadership shown by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos during four years of hard negotiations”, said U.S. National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice in a statement. A national referendum on the agreement will then be organised.

The peace accord lays out how the rebel fighters will demobilize and hand over their weapons once the cease-fire is implemented.

The agreement sets in motion an end to the region’s oldest conflict.

With the latest advances, only few minor pending items remain, the biggest being how the final deal will be ratified and given legal force so that it won’t unravel should a more conservative government succeed Santos, who leaves office in 2018.

The FARC called a unilateral ceasefire almost a year ago and the government responded by halting air strikes on rebel camps.

Colombian Sen. Roy Barreras, chairman of the Senate Peace Commission, has said getting the rebels to totally disarm, “will take some six months”, according to ColombiaReports.