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An article from News Marti (translated by CPNN)

On Thursday, June 23, Colombia ended over half a century of bloody armed conflict, with the signing of a historic agreement for ceasefire and disarmament between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC ).

The delegate of the FARC in Cuba, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias “Timoshenko” (right) and the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos (left) with the president of Cuba, Raul Castro (center) with the peace agreement in their hands.
(click on photo to enlarge)

The final peace agreement will be signed in Colombia, said the president of that country Juan Manuel Santos, who thanked Cuba and Raul Castro for hosting the peace process.

At a ceremony held in Havana, Santos and the commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Rodrigo Londoño, or ‘Timoshenko’, listened to the reading of an agreement detailing how some 7,000 rebels will lay down arms and how they will demobilize once the final peace agreement is signed.

The announcement was made by the delegates of the guarantor countries, Cuba and Norway, in the presence of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the presidents of Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Venezuela, among others in the region.

“The decision of the parties represents a breakthrough step, the peace process is irreversible,” said the president of Cuba, Raul Castro. “Peace will be the victory of all Colombia but also throughout our America.”

The FARC agreed to surrender their weapons and leave them in the hands of the UN, which will build three monuments with them.

(Click here for the original Spanish article)

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Question(s) related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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The bilateral ceasefire and surrender of the weapons will begin with the signing of the final peace agreement and this last point will have a term development of 180 days.

To this end, a monitoring group composed of delegates from the UN will be created by the FARC and the Colombian government to verify the delivery of the guns.

Also announced was he creation of areas and camps for demobilized guerrillas and commitment by the authorities to combat paramilitary groups, by means of a special unit of the Colombian police.

It will also seek to protect political parties, including the movement that “emerge” from the transition from the FARC to civil and political life.

There are still outstanding issues related to the countersignature of agreements to give legal and legal support to them so that they cannot be overturned by a subsequent government. Santos’s mandate ends in August 2018.

“The final peace agreement will be signed in Colombia”, Santos said. “Today I finally thank Cuba and President Raul Castro, our generous host.”

The former president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, is opposed to the peace process. He said that with this agreement, “the word peace has been wounded” and the Colombian Constitution and international treaties have been violated.

“The word peace has been wounded by accepted those responsible for crimes against humanity such as kidnapping, car bombs, recruitment of children and rape of girls, and by allowing them to spend not a single day in jail and to be elected to public positions,” he said in a statement.

“Impunity, besides being the midwife of further violence, means that the Agreements of Havana is in violation of the Constitution and international treaties to which Colombia is a signatory,” said Uribe.

The former president, who has not been in favor of dialogue with the guerrillas, began several weeks ago a campaign of “civil resistance” to the Havana agreements, including collecting signatures and public demonstrations.

Uribe said Thursday that the Santos government has agreed to “negotiate with terrorists” our democratic model, economic freedoms and social policies.”