- Title: Mixed reactions after Colombia, Marxist rebels sign accord ending 52-year war
- Date: 27th September 2016
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (SEPTEMBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) BUS AND CAR BEING DRIVEN DOWN STREET BICYCLIST AND CARS IN TRAFFIC PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET AS COLOMBIAN FLAG FLIES ABOVE NEWSPAPERS ON STAND NEWSPAPER ANNOUNCING PEACE NEWS STAND WITH NEWSPAPERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ROBERTO COTES, COLOMBIAN MAN, SAYING: "There is still a step left in the process and that is the approval with the plebiscite but I think that for many it's a day of great happiness, of tranquility because something which, many thought would never happen, has been fulfilled. There are a few of us who have lived in a Colombia in peace and so it is a way to a better future." MAN READING NEWSPAPER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ, COLOMBIAN MAN, SAYING: "The government is handing all the power to the guerrillas. I hope we're all OK because we don't want any evil for us or anybody else." PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RAFAEL ANTONIO ROJAS, COLOMBIAN MAN, SAYING: "And unfortunately at this present moment we are very biased to the "yes" or "no" vote and it does not generate what we are looking for which is warmth and harmony among all. We should all forgive." WOMEN CROSSING STREET
- Embargoed: 12th October 2016 16:22
- Keywords: peace deal morning after plebiscite street scene
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00151CFLTV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: There were mixed feelings among Colombians on Tuesday (September 27) after the country's center-right government and the Marxist FARC rebel group signed a peace deal on Monday (September 26) to end a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people and once took the Andean country to the brink of collapse.
After four years of peace talks in Cuba, President Juan Manuel Santos, 65, and rebel leader Timochenko - the nom de guerre for 57-year-old Rodrigo Londono - signed the accord with a pen made from a bullet casing.
Colombians will vote on Sunday on whether to ratify the agreement, but opinion polls show it should pass easily.
Colombians are nervous over how the rebels will integrate into society, but most, like resident Roberto Cotes, are optimistic peace will bring more benefits than problems.
"There is still a step left in the process and that is the approval with the plebiscite but I think that for many it's a day of great happiness, of tranquility because something which, many thought would never happen, has been fulfilled. There are a few of us who have lived in a Colombia in peace and so it is a way to a better future," Cotes said.
Meanwhile, some like Ernesto Rodriguez were not so sure.
"The government is handing all the power to the guerrillas. I hope we're all OK because we don't want any evil for us or anybody else," he said.
The general feeling nevertheless is one of reconciliation.
"And unfortunately at this present moment we are very biased to the "yes" or "no" vote and it does not generate what we are looking for which is warmth and harmony among all. We should all forgive," said Bogota resident, Rafael Antonio Rojas.
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.
The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which 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.
Colombia has performed better economically than its neighbours in recent years, and peace should reduce the government's security spending and open new areas of the country for mining and oil companies.
But criminal gangs may try to fill the void in rebel-held areas, landmines hinder development and rural poverty remains a huge challenge.
With peace achieved, Santos, a member of a wealthy Bogota family, will likely use his political capital to push for tax reforms and other measures to compensate for a drop in oil income caused by a fall in energy prices. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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