Colombia, FARC sign historic peace deal ending long conflict

Source: Associated Press

Colombia, FARC sign historic peace deal ending long conflict

Joshua Goodman and Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press

Updated 6:32 pm, Monday, September 26, 2016



Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and the top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Rodrigo Londono, known by the alias Timochenko, shake hands after signing a peace agreement between Colombia’s government and the FARC to end over 50 years of conflict in Cartagena, Colombia, Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.


CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's government and the country's largest rebel movement signed a historic peace accord Monday evening ending a half-century of combat that caused more than 220,000 deaths and made 8 million homeless.

Underlining the importance of the deal, President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed the 297-page agreement before a crowd of 2,500 foreign dignitaries and special guests, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Many in the audience had tears in their eyes, and shouts rose urging Santos and Londono to "Hug, hug, hug!" But in the end, the two men just clasped hands and the rebel commander, also known as Timochenko, put on a pin shaped like a white dove that Santos has been wearing on his lapel for years. Seconds later five jets buzzed overhead in formation trailing smoke in the colors of Colombia's flag.

During a minute of silence for the war's victims, 50 white flags were raised. Everyone at the event wore white as a symbol of peace.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Colombia-to-sign-historic-peace-deal-on-ending-9284137.php