Colombian Govt Reach Peace Deal With FARC Guerrillas To End a 5-Decade Civil War

Colombian 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. 

As part of the deal, FARC has agreed to disarm its 7,000-strong army at special UN camps

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.

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

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.

Colombian Govt 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

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 October 02,2016

Residents in Bogota, Colombia took to the streets following the announcement to celebrate the peace deal which will be put to a referendum in October by the Colombian government

Residents in Bogota, Colombia took to the streets following the announcement to celebrate the peace deal which will be put to a referendum in October by the Colombian government

 

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