Latin America

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts) Wed Sep 23, 2015, 09:10 PM Sep 2015

Colombia, FARC Rebel Group Announce Major Breakthrough in Peace Talks

Colombia, FARC Rebel Group Announce Major Breakthrough in Peace Talks

by Mary Murray and James Eng
Sep 23 2015, 8:43 pm ET

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the top commander of leftist FARC rebels shook hands on Wednesday and agreed to reach a final peace deal within six months in Latin America's longest war.

"The chief of the FARC secretariat and I have agreed that in no more than six months this negotiation should come to an end and we should sign a final agreement," Santos told a ceremony in Havana, the site of peace talks for the past three years.

Rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have fought the Colombian government for 51 years in a conflict that has killed some 220,000 and displaced millions.

[font size=1]
TV grab of Telesur of Cuban President Raul Castro (C), Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and the head
of the FARC guerrilla group Timoleon Jimenez, aka Timochenko (R), shaking hands during a meeting in Havana
on September 23, 2015. AFP - Getty Images
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"This will not be an easy task because there are still some difficult points to agree. But it is an instruction that we have given to our delegations, that we reach an agreement as soon as possible," Santos said. "We won't fail. The time for peace has arrived."

More:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/colombia-farc-rebel-group-announce-major-breakthrough-peace-talks-n432646

3 replies

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Colombia, FARC Rebel Group Announce Major Breakthrough in Peace Talks (Original Post) Judi Lynn Sep 2015 OP

Colombia, FARC rebels vow to reach peace deal by March 2016 Judi Lynn Sep 2015 #1

If they can hold this breakthough, these folks deserve a Nobel Prize. forest444 Sep 2015 #2

You're so right! Uribe and his clan have fought this like madmen, with fangs and claws. n/t Judi Lynn Sep 2015 #3

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts)

1. Colombia, FARC rebels vow to reach peace deal by March 2016

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Wed Sep 23, 2015, 09:40 PM

Sep 2015

Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:53pm EDT
Colombia, FARC rebels vow to reach peace deal by March 2016
HAVANA | By Nelson Acosta and Daniel Trotta

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the top FARC rebel commander pledged on Wednesday to end Latin America's longest war within six months and sealed their pact with a handshake likely to stand as a lasting image.

Santos and FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, better known by the nom de guerre Timochenko, also agreed the leftist guerrillas would lay down arms within 60 days of signing the deal, which now has an official deadline of March 23, 2016. If successful, it would end a conflict that has killed 220,000 and displaced millions since 1964.

The two sides have been in peace talks in Havana for nearly three years, but this was the first time Santos had come to Cuba and his first meeting with Timochenko.

. . .

"We won't fail. The time for peace has arrived."

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/24/us-colombia-rebels-idUSKCN0RN1HB20150924?rpc=401

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On edit, adding article:

U.S. lauds Colombia 'breakthroughs'; Kerry calls Santos
Source: Reuters - Wed, 23 Sep 2015 23:49 GMT

HAVANA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry applauded Colombia's government and FARC rebels on Wednesday for "major breakthroughs" after the parties pledged to end Latin America's longest-running war in six months.

"Peace is now ever closer," he said in a statement. "I have called President (Juan Manuel) Santos to congratulate him and his negotiating team for their courage and commitment to the peace talks under extraordinarily difficult conditions." (Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

http://www.trust.org/item/20150923235120-av3yb/

(Short article, no more at link.)

forest444

(5,902 posts)

2. If they can hold this breakthough, these folks deserve a Nobel Prize.

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Wed Sep 23, 2015, 09:41 PM

Sep 2015

Viva Colombia. Viva la paz.

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts)

3. You're so right! Uribe and his clan have fought this like madmen, with fangs and claws. n/t

Reply to forest444 (Reply #2)

Wed Sep 23, 2015, 09:51 PM

Sep 2015

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