A Colombian anti-corruption referendum fell just short of the required votes, but its supporters hope that politicians got the message. Of the 11.7 million who voted, 99 percent supported the proposals.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot/Xinhua/J. Paz
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An anti-corruption referendum in Colombia failed to pass on Sunday after narrowly falling short of a required one-third quorum.
Nearly 11.7 million of nearly 36 million registered voters turned out to vote on seven measures designed to battle corruption and improve transparency. A threshold of 12.1 million voters was needed to make it binding.
However, of those that cast a vote nearly 99 percent supported the proposals, sending a clear message to political elites that the public wants corruption to be taken seriously.
"We were five cents short, but this has shaken the traditional political class," Angelica Lozano Correa, a Green party senator who backed the measure told local radio. "Citizens want a real and genuine change in political practices."
Had the referendum passed, the measures would have slashed lawmakers' salaries, imposed a three-term limit and forced elected officials to publish their tax returns.
Colombia's long struggle for peace
Colombia's presidential election is an important milestone towards consolidating the peace accord with FARC guerrillas. It was reached after decades of bloody conflict between the state and the FARC guerrilla groups.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Legaria
Difficult path toward peace
The 2016 signing of the peace accord between the Colombian government and FARC rebels was a major, but not final, step towards ending the decades-long conflict. The deal remains a controversial topic in the country and took center stage during the presidential election.
Image: Kaeufer/Moser
Land owners vs. farmers
The conflict's origins date to the 1920s and a struggle over land ownership, which claimed thousands of lives. The 1948 murder of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (photo), a liberal politician, threw the country into deep crisis. A result was the formation of a number of resistance groups; the Colombian army launched a campaign against "communist farmers."
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FARC and ELN
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) were founded in 1964. The former wanted to break up the monopoly of land ownership, whereas the ELN formed out of a radical student movement and ideas of liberation theologians such as Camilo Torres (photo). The Colombian government fought both groups with the support the United States.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Paramilitary groups
The conflict deepened in the 1980s with the introduction of right-wing paramilitary groups in the service of the landowners against FARC. Both sides were closely linked to drug cartels. Four presidential candidates and countless left-wing politicians were murdered by paramilitaries between 1986 and 1990.
Image: Carlos Villalon/Liaison/Getty Images
Ingrid Betancourt kidnapped
In February 2002, the government cut off peace negotiations with FARC after guerrillas hijacked a domestic flight. Days later, the rebels struck again, kidnapping presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Alvaro Uribe went on to win the election that May and escalated military operations against FARC, ruling out further negotiations. He was re-elected in 2007. Betancourt was released in 2008.
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Peace talks begin
Juan Manuel Santos was elected president in 2010. Two years later, a law concerning compensation for victims of violence and the return of land came into effect. Peace talks between the government (photo) and FARC officially began that November.
Image: Reuters
Ceasefire
At midnight on August 29, 2016, the permanent ceasefire came into force. "A new chapter in Colombia's history begins on August 29," Santos wrote on Twitter. "We have silenced the weapons. The war with FARC is over!"
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Legaria
Peace deal with FARC
On September 26, 2016, President Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, a.k.a. Timochenko, signed the peace treaty, ending the 52-year-old conflict. The signing took place in Cartagena and was attended by 2,500 people.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Vergara
Setback
Distrust in FARC manifested itself in a pre-referendum campaign against the peace treaty, led by the conservative ex-president Alvaro Uribe. To the surprise of many observers, a thin majority of Colombians voted to reject the deal on October 2, 2016.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/I. Valencia
Peace Prize for Santos
The international community threw its support behind the treaty's supporters. Just five days after it was rejected in a referendum, Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The ceremony took place in Oslo in December 2016.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Schwarz
Parliamentary ratification
Colombia's parliament ratified the peace treaty on November 30, 2016, following a list of changes to the deal's original language.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Legaria
Disarmament
FARC rebels gave up their weapons in three phases. On June 27, 2017, at the end of the UN-controlled disarmament process, Santos wrote: "For me and all Colombians, today is a special day. It's a day when weapons were exchanged for words."
Image: picture alliance/dpa/A. Piñeros
The new FARC
The now disarmed, former rebel group chose to renew itself as a political party and disavow violence during a convention on August 27, 2017. The guerrilla's founder, Rodrigo Londono (photo), was elected the new party's head. He was unable to run for president, however, due to his poor health.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Vergara
FARC at the polls
For the first time since the end of the armed conflict, FARC put up its members as candidates in the parliamentary election, which took place on March 11, 2018. The party received just 50,000 votes, but secured five seats in the senate and lower house of parliament, respectively, as guaranteed by the peace treaty. The conservative party of former President Uribe won the election.
Image: Imago/Agencia EFE
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Other provisions would have applied stricter sentences for corruption offenses and banned alternative sentences like house arrest for graft. The proposal would have also targeted graft in the private sector by banning companies convicted of corruption from securing contracts from the public sector.
The new president, Ivan Duque, had supported the referendum although some in his conservative party were against it.
In a televised speech, Duque called for lawmakers to support anti-corruption reforms.
"Together we'll defeat those who ransack public resources, together we'll build the future that Colombia deserves," he
said, urging citizens to also report corruption.
Senator and Green Alliance leader Claudia Lopez, who led the push for the referendum, urged the government to take action.
"This historic vote, this decisive victory by free citizens, gives a clear and strong mandate to the government and congress," she said.
Turnout in Colombian elections are usually low. Voter turn out in the last election was 50 percent and a 2016 referendum to end a half-century war with FARC rebels only drew 13 million voters.
Corruption among politicians, officials and business is rampant, and implementation of existing laws is weak.
Colombia's inspector general has estimated the cost of corruption at around 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product each year.
Transparency International has found that nearly two-thirds of companies worry about losing business if they do not pay bribes.