Marking its first election, FARC has failed to add to its 10 seats granted by the Colombian peace accord. But the Democratic Center secured an increase of more than 40 percent in the lower house by opposing the deal.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Vergara
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A hardline conservative grouping led by the Democratic Center party made gains in Colombia's legislative elections, according to official results published on Monday.
In the Senate, the Democratic Center garnered the most votes with 16.4 percent. It came in second in the House of Representatives with 16 percent, marking an increase of more than 40 percent compared to the 2014 election.
Ivan Duque, who will run for the presidency later this year as a candidate for the Democratic Center, said the former rebels' ability to participate in the political process amounted to impunity after committing atrocities for decades.
"A true peace is built through the triumph of the rule of law, not by relativizing justice," Duque said.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in the decades-long conflict with FARC, described the elections as 'the most peaceful' in the country's modern historyImage: Getty Images/AFP/R. Arboleda
Moderates gain, FARC loses
However, the conservative grouping fell short of an absolute majority with three moderate parties that had formed part of President Juan Manuel Santos' coalition government pulling 43 percent of the vote in the upper house and 38 percent in the lower house.
The moderate camp's result likely gives them the ability to block attempts to deride the implementation of the peace process.
On the other hand, FARC failed to gain any other seats besides the 10 allocated to them under the peace process. The rebels-turned-politicians garnered 0.35 percent of the vote for the Senate and 0.22 percent in the House of Representatives.
FARC rebels in 1964 launched an insurgency against the Colombian state in response to the government's brutal suppression of a peasant uprising. The ensuing conflict left more than 250,000 people dead, seven million displaced and 50,000 missing.
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.
