Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 27 September 2016: Colombia signs peace deal with Marxist FARC rebel group

After four years of negotiation, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist rebel leader Timochenko signed a peace deal held in Cartagena ending a 52-year war. FARC sworn to cut all their ties with drug trades, hand over all the weapons to the UN missions and convert into a political party. A special tribunal will try war-related crimes but there will be no jail time for those who will confess crimes against humanity. They will be given reduces sentences or will be granted amnesty.

On Sunday Colombians will decide on referendum whether to ratify the agreement and while the majority of opinion polls show that it should pass easily, for others there are disputed provisions as no jail time for those who confess crimes like kidnapping, killing and child recruitment. The most notable critic is Mr. Santos's predecessor as President, Álvaro Uribe who is saying that the government has gone too easy on the guerillas and calling Mr. Santos a "traitor".

The agreement was signed in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Cuban President Raul Castro and hundreds of victims of the war all dressed in white to symbolize peace. For the special pen made out of a bullet used for signing the accord, Santos said that: "It illustrates the transition of bullets into education and future".

Signing the peace deal won broad international support. The EU removed the FARC from its list of terrorist groups and The US Department of State has pledged $390 million for Colombia next year to support the peace process. Kerry said the US will review whether to take the FARC off its terrorist list as well.

FARC, which stands for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, started as a peasant revolt, grown from a small group to a powerful rebel force with 20.000 fighters in its strongest time and a big player in the cocaine trade. Bogota was massively attacked and threatened to overrun by the rebels. There were many battles between the guerrillas, paramilitaries, drug gangs and the army raged in the countryside ending in thousands of civilians killed in the massacres.