- Title: Colombian ex-presidents meet with Santos over peace plan
- Date: 5th October 2016
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (OCTOBER 5, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER PRESIDENT, ANDRES PASTRANA, SAYING: "They submitted all this to a referendum. The agreement would have come into law if it passed (the referendum) but it lost, so we have to hold onto the good parts and adjust the parts we think could be much better, to create an agreement which really ensures stable and lasting peace." MEDIA CROWDED AROUND PASTRANA
- Embargoed: 20th October 2016 21:46
- Keywords: Santos Uribe Pastrana FARC
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00352QDY6F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Colombia's opposition leader, former president and current senator, Alvaro Uribe, met with President Juan Manuel Santos for the first time in five years on Wednesday (October 5) to propose changes to the government's peace deal with FARC rebels that was voted down.
In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Sunday as too lenient on the rebels.
Uribe was one of the chief critics of the deal and said the onus is now on the Colombian government to take the concerns of the people to the FARC for a new peace deal.
Uribe has been vocal in his criticism of provisions in the peace deal that would have included guaranteed congressional seats for the FARC and immunity from traditional jail sentences for leaders.
A re-negotiation seems to depend on whether the FARC would accept tougher conditions, maybe combined with a softening of Uribe's demands.
After years of refusing to meet negotiators, Uribe has now said he is willing to seek a joint solution.
President Santos has struck a diplomatic tone in bringing together the opposing political sides to find common ground for peace.
He also met with former president Andres Pastrana on Wednesday morning, who spoke after the meeting.
Pastrana led the last attempt at peace more than a decade ago, but those talks collapsed and they were seen as having helped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, build up their fighting forces.
"They submitted all this to a referendum. The agreement would have come into law if it passed (the referendum) but it lost, so we have to hold onto the good parts and adjust the parts we think could be much better, to create an agreement which really ensures stable and lasting peace," said Pastrana.
Santos late on Tuesday decreed that a government ceasefire put in place in August would be extended until the end of the month in a bid to allow time to salvage the deal. The original ceasefire was nullified when the peace accord was rejected in the plebiscite. He did not say if the ceasefire would be extended further. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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