The Colombian government and Farc rebels are set to sign a peace deal, although the terms of the deal are subject to a referendum:
The Colombian government and left-wing Farc rebels are set to sign a historic agreement deal that formally brings an end to 52 years of civil war. The last of the major Cold War conflicts killed 260,000 people and left six million internally displaced. President Juan Manuel Santos and rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez, known as Timochenko, will use a pen made from a bullet to sign the deal on Monday.
[...] Under the deal, the Farc will be relaunched as a political party. The agreement will be put to Colombian voters in a popular vote on 2 October. It comes after four years of talks in Havana, Cuba, between President Santos and Timochenko, The pair will shake hands on Colombian soil for the first time.
Controversially, it will allow rebels to avoid prosecution for various war crimes so long as they admit to committing offenses.
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The peace deal negotiated between the Colombian government and FARC rebels has been narrowly rejected by Colombian voters:
Colombians narrowly rejected a peace deal with Marxist guerrillas in a referendum on Sunday, plunging the nation into uncertainty and dashing President Juan Manuel Santos' painstakingly negotiated plan to end the 52-year war. The surprise victory for the "no" camp poured cold water on international joy, from the White House to the Vatican, at what had seemed to be the end of the longest-running conflict in the Americas.
The "no" camp won by 50.21 percent to 49.78 percent. Voter turnout was only 37 percent, perhaps partly owing to torrential rain through the country.
Both sides in the war immediately sought to reassure the world they would try to revive their peace plan. Santos, 65, said a ceasefire already negotiated would remain in place. He vowed to sit down on Monday with the victorious "no" camp to discuss the way forward, and send his chief negotiator back to Cuba to meet with FARC rebel leaders.
Both sides remain committed to peace (for now):
FARC rebels, also known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, released a statement expressing sadness at the vote. "With today's result, we know that our goal as a political movement is even more grand and strong. The FARC maintains the will of peace and reiterates its disposition to only use words as a weapon for constructing the future," the statement said.
Just last week, in a scene generations of Colombians never dreamed of seeing, President Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño used pens made of recycled bullets to sign a deal ending a 52-year-old war. But now it seems the rebels and the Colombian government, facilitated by international leaders, will have to go back to the drawing board to reimagine a peace that is acceptable to victims of murder, extortion and kidnapping. It is largely unclear what the path forward looks like, as rebel fighters were supposed to give up their weapons and rejoin society. Santos, who has said before there is no "plan B" if the deal fails, said a ceasefire will remain in place and negotiations will continue in Havana, Cuba.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 27 2016, @12:48AM
Of all the terrible things that the FARC did, one thing they did well was gender equality. Like practically all of latin-america, colombia's got a big problem with entrenched machismo/marianissma gender roles. But the FARC didn't have that luxury. Consequently women were accepted as equals in nearly all ways, including combat and leadership. The FARC was actually able to recruit young women looking for liberation from gender repression. But now with the FARC disbanding, those women will have to integrate back into society where they are valued primarily in the roles society expects of them rather than for who they are. Much like the "rosie the riveter" women were forced back into kitchen after the war effort ended in the USA.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday September 27 2016, @01:26AM
FARC certainly did some terrible things, just like all the other sides in this civil war.
When the Soviet Union fell over and stopped supporting the left-wing rebels, the CIA could have ended the whole thing at a stroke, but they knew that if the US walked away from Columbia the Conservatives they had kept in power for half a century would lose any free and fair elections, so they kept the civil war going.
I know that's very simplistic, but like almost every Latin American people's struggle, the US has taken the side of the conservative land-owners, in an attempt to defeat Communism.
(Score: -1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 27 2016, @05:29AM
That's not a problem, shithead faggot.
(Score: 3, Touché) by bob_super on Tuesday September 27 2016, @01:10AM
> The last of the major Cold War conflicts
Pretty hard these days to ignore the one that only ended in an armistice, and where both sides have been escalating their dick-waving...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 27 2016, @02:17AM
Synonyms: truce; cease-fire
Not a synonym: peace treaty
escalating their dick-waving
The numbers involved are amazing:
A cease-fire that has lasted (more or less) for 63 years without some 1st lieutenant with an itchy finger reingniting the whole thing.
The capital city of the USA's ally is just 35 miles from the "Demilitarized" Zone.
...easily within missile range.
...or even gun technology from a century ago. [google.com]
.
...and Fristy caught the fact that FARC is an initialism (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) and that each letter should be capitalized (in e.g. the page title).
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 27 2016, @01:59PM
There's been plenty of itchy fingers, though, like the Axe Murder Incident [wikipedia.org] which is as incredible as it sounds.
More recently was the sinking of ROKS Cheonan [wikipedia.org] although whether North Korea was responsible is in dispute.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday September 27 2016, @03:07AM
There's a decent argument to be made that that one doesn't count, because the Cold War was the US versus Russia, not the US versus China, and the US and China are kinda frenemies now.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday September 27 2016, @05:05PM
The Cold War was about all the Evil Commies, son, and their Evil plots to have foreign substances introduced in our precious bodily fluids.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday September 27 2016, @05:44PM
Whats funny is how serious the US is about communist activity. Was talking to a person at a friends party and told me a funny yet somewhat disturbing story. When he was 18 or 19 in college he and some friends went to register to vote. On a dare, he wrote "american communist party" under political party. It's just a silly joke right? Wrong. Very, very wrong.
He was actually visited by FBI agents questioning him about his registration. They took him to a FBI office and questioned him for a few hours and released him saying that he was not to leave the city (NYC) until they got back to him. About a week later they had him in another office or something to take a sworn oath that he was not in the american communist party, take some kind of test or recite something that I can only describe as a patriotic oath to america and sign a bunch of papers. This is also on his permanent record and can be used against him during employment. When he joined the coast guard some years later, they also questioned him bout his communist affiliation and loyalty to america.
I actually find how serious they take communism and patriotism/nationalism to be laughably absurd. And that is precisely why that line from the film, Dr Strangelove, is such a fitting bit of satire.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Tuesday September 27 2016, @06:15PM
What's particularly absurd about it is that it isn't a crime to be a communist in America. The Powers That Be simply do everything they can to make it seem like a crime even though it isn't one.
The American Communist Party at least was a real organization, with members and annual meetings and such. That changed in the 1950's, when everybody associated with them was given the choice of:
(A) Confess, rat out all your friends and their activities in front of a congressional committee, and be considered "rehabilitated" or something, albeit still a source of suspicion.
(B) Never work again.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday September 27 2016, @07:51PM
For got to add that this happened in the early-mid 90's.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RamiK on Tuesday September 27 2016, @03:10AM
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-carefully-planned-using-farc-computers-to-link-chavez-and-correa-to-rebels-wikileaks/ [colombiareports.com]
A lot of elected officials in Colombia had some FARC ties since they couldn't get elected otherwise. Apparently, international and domestic blackmails over these ties got so common with the recent generation that they just had to sign some kind of amnesty deal to save their own necks.
compiling...
(Score: 3, Funny) by gawdonblue on Tuesday September 27 2016, @07:40AM
Controversially, it will allow rebels to avoid prosecution for various war crimes so long as they admit to committing offenses.
Does the government also get "to avoid prosecution for various war crimes so long as they admit to committing offenses" or are their criminals in no danger of being prosecuted?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 27 2016, @05:28PM
No it will be like in Australia, where "the British" massacred the natives whereas "the Australians" are reasonable, decent people.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday September 27 2016, @05:54PM
The Australians are assholes and butchers, and on top of that, militarily incompetent. Just look at how they mowed down unarmed civilians in the Great Emu War of 1932 [wikipedia.org]. But even with machine guns, they were completely outwitted by their unarmed avian opponents and were forced to retreat.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 28 2016, @12:21AM
Controversially, it will allow rebels to avoid prosecution for various war crimes so long as they admit to committing offenses.
There were people who wanted the Rebels in the US Civil War to be tried, but Lincoln and AFAIK most of the generals knew better. Lee's men were told to stack their rifles at Appomatox, and free to go as long as they no longer fought the Union. Lee walked. Later, Europe failed that lesson and gave us Versailles. Then the Allies learned it again and gave us the Marshall Plan. True war criminals in WW2 were still prosecuted, but most nazis walked. Now with this FARC business it might be a deal where almost everybody was technically a "war criminal" because of the way the war was conducted. That might be the reason for the blanket amnesty... or it could be a trap.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 28 2016, @09:47PM
South African Truth and Reconciliation.
Its not perfect, but its better.