- Title: Colombia's war ends
- Date: 27th September 2016
- Summary: CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA (SEPTEMBER 26, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** STAGE DOOR WITH LOGO OF A DOVE WITH AN OLIVE BRANCH OPENING COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, UNITED NATIONS GENERAL SECRETARY BAN KI-MOON AND LEADER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA RODRIGO LONDONO ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, WALKING OUT ONTO STAGE TIMOCHENKO WAVING AT AUDIENCE AND SANTOS SHOWING HIM THE WAY BAN KI-MOON, SANTOS, TIMOCHENKO AND CUBAN PRESIDENT RAUL CASTRO APPLAUDING ON STAGE CASTRO AND TIMOCHENKO APPLAUDING GENERAL VIEW OF AUDIENCE WITH STAGE BEHIND TIMOCHENKO WALKING TO TABLE TO SIGN PEACE AGREEMENT TIMOCHENKO SIGNING PEACE AGREEMENT SANTOS WALKING TO TABLE TO SIGN PEACE AGREEMENT SANTOS SIGNING PEACE AGREEMENT PEOPLE IN STANDS DRESSED IN WHITE, WAVING WHITE CLOTHS AND WAVING A COLOMBIAN FLAG WITH AN EXTRA WHITE STRIPE SANTOS GIVING TIMOCHENKO A PIN IN THE SHAPE OF A DOVE AUDIENCE MEMBERS FILMING ON THEIR MOBILE PHONES AS TIMOCHENKO PINS DOVE TO HIS SHIRT SANTOS AND TIMOCHENKO SHAKING HANDS SANTOS AND TIMOCHENKO APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, SAYING: "Mr. Rodrigo Londono and members of the FARC, today when you begin your path of return to society, when you start your transition into a political movement without guns, following the rules of justice, truth and reparation as included in the agreement, as head of state of the homeland we all love, I welcome you to democracy." AUDIENCE WAVING WHITE CLOTHS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, SAYING: "(Now we) change the bullets for votes, guns for ideas, it is the bravest and most intelligent decision that any subversive group can take, and now you have understood the calling of history." SANTOS ADDRESSING CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT, JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, SAYING: "Colombians, the horrible night is over, the shadow of a horrible night of violence which has covered us for over half a century is over, the horrible night is over and the day comes with many promises. Today we invite everyone, youths and adults, in the cities and the countryside, the sceptical and the enthusiastic, everyone, to open our arms, eyes and minds to welcome the new day, let us open our hearts to the new sunrise." GENERAL VIEW OF CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "In the name of the FARC-EP, I offer a sincere apology to all victims of the conflict for all the pain we may have caused in this war." BAN KI-MOON AND SANTOS APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "God bless Colombia, the war is over, we are beginning to construct peace, Mauricio Babilonia´s love for the Meme can now live forever." LOGO OF A DOVE WITH AN OLIVE BRANCH AND STRIPES IN THE COLOURS OF THE COLOMBIAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA LEADER, RODRIGO LONDONO ALIAS TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "The Tenth National Guerrilla Conference of the FARC-EP unanimously ratified the Havana peace agreements, and has mandated the creation of a new party as a political movement, which configures the definitive passing of the clandestine war and armed struggle, to an open and legal fight towards the expansion of democracy. May nobody doubt that we will carry out politics without guns, we will prepare to disarm our hearts and minds."
- Embargoed: 12th October 2016 02:06
- Keywords: Colombia FARC signing Cartagena President Juan Manuel Santos
- Location: CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA
- City: CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00151CB29Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist rebel leader Timochenko used a pen made from a bullet on Monday (September 26) to sign an accord ending a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people.
After four years of peace talks in Cuba, Santos, 65, and Timochenko - the nom de guerre for 57-year-old revolutionary Rodrigo Londono - shook hands on Colombian soil for the first time in front of hundreds of dignitaries.
Guests at the ceremony in the Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena were asked to wear white and included United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The end of Latin America's longest-running war will turn the FARC guerrillas into a political party fighting at the ballot box instead of the battlefield they have occupied since 1964.
"Mr. Rodrigo Londono and members of the FARC, today when you begin your path of return to society, when you start your transition into a political movement without guns, following the rules of justice, truth and reparation as included in the agreement, as head of state of the homeland we all love, I welcome you to democracy," Santos said on a full white stage decorated with a dove and an olive branch.
"(Now we) change the bullets for votes, guns for ideas, it is the bravest and most intelligent decision that any subversive group can take, and now you have understood the calling of history," he added.
Accepting a pin in the shape of a dove from Santos, Londono took his momentous turn at the lectern, apologising to the nation on behalf of the guerrilla movement.
"In the name of the FARC-EP, I offer a sincere apology to all victims of the conflict for all the pain we may have caused in this war," said Londono.
"God bless Colombia, the war is over, we are beginning to construct peace, Mauricio Babilonia's love for the Meme can now live forever," said Londono in reference to Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marque's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'.
Londono was clearly shocked when an aircraft roared overhead interrupting his speech, but went on to joke that it had come in peace and not to drop bombs this time.
One man waved a large Colombian flag that had an extra white stripe in homage to the peace deal, as the crowds shook white cloths.
The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, began as a peasant revolt, became a big player in the cocaine trade and at its strongest had 20,000 fighters. Now its some 7,000 fighters must hand over their weapons to the United Nations within 180 days.
Colombians will vote on Oct. 2 on whether to ratify the agreement, but polls show it should pass easily. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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