Colombian Govt Reach Historic Peace Deal With the FARC Guerrillas To End a 5-decade Civil War

Colombia's Government has reached a historic peace deal with FARC Guerrillas to end a five-decade civil war following peace talks brokered by Cuba. 

Both sides have spent four years negotiating an end to the conflict which has cost hundreds of thousands of lives. 

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, pictured, addressed the people last night and told them that the talks, which began in Havana in November 2012 have successfully concluded

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos said he would put the peace deal to the people in a referendum on October02,2016

Cuban diplomat Rodolfo Benitez announced the deal in Havana following a four-year round of peace talks. 

Colombian government minister Humberto de la Calle, right, shook hands with FARC's delegate at the conclusion of the peace talks, Ivan Marquez, left, after agreeing a historic peace deal bringing to an end some five decades of conflict

He said: 'The Colombian government and the FARC announce that we have reached a final, full and definitive accord... on ending the conflict and building a stable and enduring peace,' the two sides said in a joint statement read out in Havana by Cuban diplomat Rodolfo Benitez

'We don't want one more victim in Colombia.'

In a national address just after the announcement, Santos - who has staked his legacy on the peace process - said the deal marked 'the end of the suffering, the pain and the tragedy of war.'

He immediately launched his campaign for a 'Yes' vote in the referendum, which he said would be the most important election of voters' lives.

FARC chief negotiator Ivan Marquez called the accord a new chapter for Colombia.

'We can now say that fighting with weapons ends and with ideas begins,' he said from Havana.

The peace deal comprises six agreements reached at each step of the arduous negotiations.

They cover justice for victims of the conflict, land reform, political participation for ex-rebels, fighting drug trafficking, disarmament and the implementation and monitoring of the accord.

Under the peace deal, the FARC will begin moving its estimated 7,000 fighters from their jungle and mountain hideouts into disarmament camps set up by the United Nations, which is helping monitor the ceasefire.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the negotiators for their perseverance, while emphasizing that equal determination will be needed to implement the agreement.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini warned in a statement that a number of challenges remain for implementation, but that the deal would bring lasting peace.

On Twitter Erna Solberg, the prime minister of Norway, one of the countries that mediated the talks, congratulated 'both parties for a bold step towards a peaceful Colombia.'

The White House said US President Barack Obama had called Santos to congratulate him.

'The president recognized this historic day as a critical juncture in what will be a long process to fully implement a just and lasting peace agreement,' it said in a statement.

Note

Hundreds of thousands of people died during the five-decade conflict which saw the leftist rebels attack government and military targets across Colombia using no-warning bombs

It is estimated that 260,000 people have been killed during the 50-year-long conflict 

Three previous peace processes with the FARC ended in failure.

But after a major offensive by the army from 2006 to 2009 - led by then-defense minister Santos - a weakened FARC agreed to come to the negotiating table

HOW IT STARTED

The 1948 assassination of populist firebrand Jorge Eliecer Gaitan led to a political bloodletting known as 'The Violence.' 

Tens of thousands died, and peasant groups joined with communists to arm themselves. 

A 1964 military attack on their main encampment led to the creation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

WHAT THE REBELS WANTED

Though nominally Marxist, the FARC's ideology has never been well defined.

 It has sought to make the conservative oligarchy share power and prioritized land reform in a country where more than 5 million people have been forcibly displaced, mostly by far-right militias in the service of ranchers, businessmen and drug traffickers. 

The FARC lost popularity as it turned to kidnapping, extortion and taxes on cocaine production and illegal gold mining to fund its insurgency.

HOW THE US GOT INVOLVED

In 2000, the United States began sending billions of dollars to counter drug-trafficking and the insurgency under Plan Colombia, which helped security forces weaken the FARC and kill several top commanders. 

The State Department classifies the group as a terrorist organization and its leaders face U.S. indictments for what the George W. Bush administration called the world's largest drug-trafficking organization.

THE MASSIVE HUMAN TOLL

More than 220,000 lives have been lost, most of them civilians. In the past two decades, most of the killings were inflicted by the militias, which made peace with the government in 2003. 

The FARC abducted ranchers, politicians and soldiers and often held them for years in jungle prison camps. Its captives included former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors, all of whom were rescued in 2008.