Colombia's government negotiators are returning from talks with FARC rebels in Cuba with a revised text for a peace deal. The previous accord was rejected in a referendum earlier this month.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Y. Lage
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Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said "everything is on the table" in efforts to revive a peace pact with FARC rebels, and said a revised accord could be reached "in a matter of days."
In a televised address on Friday night, Santos said government negotiators would return from talks in Havana and meet with key political opponents of the first agreement.
Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach a peace agreementImage: imago/Xinhua
Negotiators for the left-wing rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and for the Colombian government concluded a week of renewed talks on Friday. In a statement, they said new proposals have been incorporated in the text of what would be a modified accord.
"We have analyzed the proposals of changes and precisions to the final accord that different sectors of the society have suggested. The proposals are being discussed carefully and many are being incorporated into the texts of a new accord," the joint statement said, without describing the proposed changes.
Chief FARC negotiator Timoleon Jimenez wrote on Twitter that he hoped the delay did not become a boomerang:
The FARC and government delegations said they would renew talks next Thursday "with the aim of reaching quickly and efficiently a new definitive agreement."
"It's a question of goodwill and making decisions," said Santos. "This can be accomplished in a matter of days."
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.
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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.
Image: Reuters/A. Meneghini
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Santos said a ceasefire he extended until the end of the year was "fragile and for that reason time is dear. The people have the right to demand a new accord now."
New deal, new vote
Colombian voters rejected the last agreement between the guerrillas and the government in a referendum on October 2. Led by Alvaro Uribe, the hard-line former president supported by Colombia's land-owning elite, the No camp won by a narrow percentage in the referendum where 37 percent of voters turned out.
Uribe has called for harsher penalties for rebels who committed war crimes and restrictions on a political role for the FARC's 7,000-strong army.
The government on Thursday postponed the official start of talks with the other, smaller rebel group, the ELN. Santos complained that the ELN had not yet released a hostage, former congressman Odin Sanchez. The group is believed to have 1,500 members.
