- Title: FARC leader Timochenko rallies new political party
- Date: 2nd September 2017
- Summary: GENERAL VIEW OF CONCERT VARIOUS OF SINGER PERFORMING
- Embargoed: 16th September 2017 04:11
- Keywords: FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Revolutionary Alternative Common Force Rodrigo Londono
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0026WWJ8ZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Colombian FARC leader, Rodrigo Londono, known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, rallied energized supporters on Friday (September 1), turning Colombia's disarmed FARC rebels toward forming a political coalition for the 2018 elections as the group marked its transition to a political party with a concert in Bogota's central square.
The former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), whose political party will be called the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, ended its part in a decades-long war that has killed more than 220,000 people under a 2016 deal which granted amnesty to most of its fighters.
The FARC will hold 10 automatic seats in Congress through 2026 under the terms of the accord and may campaign for others.
Both legislative and presidential elections are set for 2018 and the party plans to reach out to ideological allies to try to form a coalition, without abandoning its Marxist commitments to land reform and social justice, the group said.
The formal party launch, featuring musical performances and a planned speech by Londono took place in Bogota's colonial Bolivar Square on Friday in front of a crowd of thousands.
"Long live peace!" shouted the crowd, as FARC members on stage displayed banners reading "Welcome to political life."
Londono said the party would focus on fighting corruption and poverty, especially in rural areas, and that politics would not be easy.
The FARC's often old-fashioned Marxist rhetoric strikes many as a throwback to their 1964 founding, but concrete proposals for reforms to complicated property laws could get traction with rural voters who struggle as subsistence farmers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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