- Title: FARC leader Timochenko rallies new political party
- Date: 2nd September 2017
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (SEPTEMBER 1, 2017) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF STAGE WITH GIANT SCREEN SHOWING FARC LEADER RODRIGO LONDONO, AKA TIMOCHENKO, ARRIVING VIDEO ON GIANT SCREEN OF LONDONO ARRIVING GENERAL VIEW OF STAGE WITH GIANT SCREEN LONDONO WALKING ONTO STAGE AUDIENCE AND COLOMBIAN FLAG GENERAL VIEW OF STAGE AND GIANT SCREEN SHOWING LONDONO TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER RODRIGO LONDONO, AKA TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "Our proposal is to unite for a better, fair, sovereign, democratic and peaceful country. We will not succeed if we do not fight for it with an absolute faith in conquering it. Today, we are a party that is born in a tomorrow not far away, we will be millions and millions in a new Colombia." GIANT SCREEN ON STAGE SHOWING LONDONO GIVING SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER RODRIGO LONDONO, AKA TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "We will have to go in stages, we cannot begin to build a pyramid by its apex. Our first step now is to present to Colombia our political party, its strategic program and our proposal for political action. We want and we will achieve national recognition as a political party legitimately located on the national stage." VARIOUS OF INDIGENOUS LEADERS ON STAGE WITH TIMOCHENKO FANNING SMOKE IN SOME KIND OF RITUAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC LEADER RODRIGO LONDONO, AKA TIMOCHENKO, SAYING: "We launched our proposal for a national transitional government for the period of 2018-2022. We firmly believe that the Colombian people want peace and will be ready to defend it as the most precious of their rights." AUDIENCE LISTENING FARC SUPPORTER, ANTONIO GARCIA, IN AUDIENCE APPLAUDING FARC'S NEW SYMBOL OF RED ROSE ON GARCIA'S BERET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC SUPPORTER, ANTONIO GARCIA, SAYING: "We are trying to show the country, the enemies of the peace process that we are very many who are friends and we want with everyone that the country marches towards true development with the social participation of all."
- 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: LVA0016WWJ8ZR
- 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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