- Title: Colombians march in celebration of President Santos’s Nobel peace prize
- Date: 8th October 2016
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (OCTOBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS) BANNERS HANGING OVER THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE IN THE COLOURS OF THE COLOMBIAN FLAG AND WHITE FOR PEACE PEOPLE WALKING PAST THE MINISTRY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PLACING WHITE ROSES ON A WALL A MAN PLACING WHITE ROSES ON A WALL WITH GRAFFITI READING (IN SPANISH): "VOTE NO" CLOSE-UP OF WHITE FLOWERS PEOPLE PLACING WHITE FLOWERS IN WALL A MAN WAVING A COLOMBIAN FLAG IN BOGOTA'S BOLIVAR PLAZA WHITE BALLOONS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DEMONSTRATOR FOR PEACE, KATHERINE MIRANDA, SAYING: "It is a very beautiful demonstration, because the citizens are becoming more unified, we were suffering from a lack of social capital in the country, we did not come together as citizens, and I think that peace has been the unifying factor, we have all found each other through peace." PEOPLE HOLDING A COLOMBIAN FLAG AND NEWSPAPER CUT OUTS PEOPLE GATHERING WITH COLOMBIAN FLAG AND WHITE BALLOONS DEMONSTRATORS STANDING NEXT TO A SIGN READING (IN SPANISH): "UNITED FOR PEACE" CLOSE-UP OF A PAINTED DOVE WITH A WHITE ROSE IN ITS MOUTH
- Embargoed: 23rd October 2016 04:49
- Keywords: Colombia Juan Manuel Sanots peace Nobel FARC
- Location: BOGOTA AND MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA AND MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA002530C093
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Colombians celebrated the Nobel peace prize won by President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday (October 7) for his efforts in building a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to end 52 years of civil war.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Santos had brought one of the longest civil wars in modern history significantly closer to a peaceful solution, but there was still a danger the peace process could collapse after the agreement was rejected in a popular vote on Sunday.
Greeting supporters outside the presidential palace on Friday evening, a clearly elated and relieved Santos said the country could not falter now in the next steps towards achieving peace.
"This event, this expression touches me at the bottom of my heart. We are going to consolidate this peace with all of your support, we must not falter, on the contrary, this is a great mandate for us to continue forward. Many many thanks," said Santos.
A small crowd gathered in Bogota's central Bolivar Plaza in the evening with white balloons, Colombian flags and a sign reading, "United for peace".
"It is a very beautiful demonstration, because the citizens are becoming more unified, we were suffering from a lack of social capital in the country, we did not come together as citizens, and I think that peace has been the unifying factor, we have all found each other through peace," said demonstrator, Katherine Miranda.
Several thousand also marched through the streets of Colombia's other main city, Medellin, on Friday night in spite of the rain.
More than 220,000 people have died on the battlefield or in massacres during the struggle between leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and government troops.
Santos is the first Latin American to receive the peace prize since indigenous rights campaigner Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala won in 1992, and is the second Colombian laureate after writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who won the literature prize in 1982. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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