Colombia FARC looks to form alliance ahead of election
November 26, 2016
FARC leader Rodrigo Londono has said the group will support a candidate in next year's presidential election, hinting at an alliance with the current government. The group signed a revised peace deal this week.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Acosta
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Colombia's FARC chiefs said on Friday they would support a candidate in next year's presidential election to safeguard the revised peace deal signed between the rebel group and the government.
The peace agreement, which converts FARC into a political party, could have some weight in determining Colombia's next president after Juan Manuel Santos stands down next year.
Speaking to journalists, FARC leader Rodrigo Londono said: "We have begun calling for a candidacy that gathers together all the aspirations of those who want peace and guarantees the continuity of these accords."
Once considered the most unlikely of bedfellows, the FARC and Santos' Social Party of National Unity could form an alliance to protect the deal from opponents, led by hawkish ex-president Alvaro Uribe.
"The forces that oppose peace are already campaigning for the elections... so why don't we who want peace start talking now?" asked the veteran fighter, who is known by his nom de guerre "Timochenko."
Negotiator as candidate?
Although he did not give any names, one person floated as a probably successor to Santos is Humberto de la Calle, the government's chief negotiator in the two-year peace talks.
The Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised peace agreement on Thursday, after an original draft was rejected in a referendum last month.
Colombia, FARC sign peace deal
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Former president Uribe has campaigned against the agreement, saying it granted impunity to war criminals - a call a majority of Colombians appear to have heeded when voting in the referendum on the deal.
After signing the revised deal with the rebel goup, the Colombian government sent the agreement for ratification directly to Congress, bypassing a second plebiscite. It is expected to pass after a debate beginning Tuesday. The government and its allies hold a majority in Congress.
"Timonchenko" warned that an opposing party, such as Uribe's right-wing Democratic Center party, could alter or tear up the accord upon taking office. "This is a long-term project," he said. "To consolidate peace after over 50 years of confrontation won't be achieved in a few months or years. We think the next government, the next president, should guarantee the continuity of the process."
dm/jm (AFP, Reuters)
Latin America's longest armed conflict comes to an end
The Colombian government has reached a historic truce with FARC, ending over half a century of violence with the leftist group. Latin America's longest conflict claimed at least 220,000 lives.
Image: Reuters/A. Meneghini
How the insurgency started
In 1948, the assassination of populist leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan sparked political chaos in Colombia known as "the violence." Tens of thousands died and peasant groups joined with communists to arm themselves. Later in 1964, a military attack on the insurgency's main encampment led to the creation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
What the rebels wanted
FARC's political ideology has never been well defined. Initially, it sought to weaken the oligarchy's grip on power. The rebels also wanted land reforms in a country where more than 5 million people have been forcibly displaced, mostly by far-right militias. However, the group lost popularity as it turned to kidnapping and illegal gold mining for funds.
Image: Reuters
How the US got involved
To help the Colombian security forces fight against the insurgency and to counter drug-trafficking, the US began sending billions of dollars under Plan Colombia. The US State Department classifies the group as a terrorist organization and its leaders face US indictments.
Image: Reuters/J. Vizcaino
The human cost of the conflict
Latin America's longest-running armed conflict is responsible for the death an estimated 220,000 people, while millions of Colombians have been displaced within their country. According to Bogota’s estimates, there are 7.6 million direct and indirect victims of the conflict. The country has more landmine victims than any country except for Afghanistan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Escobar Mora
Peace accord after decades of failed attempts
Peace talks between FARC and the government collapsed in the mid 1980s after at least 3,000 allies of FARC's political wing Patriotic Union Party were killed at the hands of right-wing paramilitaries. Efforts fell short again in 2002 after the rebels hijacked an airliner to kidnap a senator. The latest round of talks started in 2012 in Havana and culminated on August 24, 2016 with a deal.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Abramovich
50 years of conflict
"We have reached a final, integral and definitive agreement" to end the conflict and build a stable, lasting peace, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said in a joint statement. In June, the negotiators had already announced a cease-fire agreement and a blueprint for how the estimated 7,000 to 8,000 fighters will demobilize.
