Colombia to end cease-fire with FARC

By Richard McColl

BOGOTA, Colombia

Colombians who favor a peace deal with the FARC have organized nationwide marches for later Wednesday to encourage the government to save the accords that negotiated an end to the 52-year conflict.

In Bojayá, Quibdó, where residents have suffered from constant attacks from guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups, local politicians are hoping the government will increase its efforts to salvage the deal.

“It is not fair that Colombia should be indifferent to the pain afflicted on so many of our own,” Mayor Jeremias Moreno told Blu Radio on Wednesday.

Low voter turnout helped the “No” campaign win a plebiscite vote Sunday that rejected the peace deal after pre-election polls showed the “Yes” camp with 60 percent support.

Many of the areas that have experienced the fighting first-hand voted to end the conflict while major cities, including the capital, Bogota, leaned toward rejecting the deal.

The result has left Colombia’s political future in limbo as no one really knows what will happen. Before the vote both sides were adamant that renegotiating the deal was not possible but Santos and the FARC have ordered their respective teams back to the negotiation table in Cuba where they were able to hammer out the deal after four years of talks.

For the first time in six years President Juan Manuel Santos met with former President Alvaro Uribe on Monday, in an attempt to rescue the peace agreement reached with the FARC.

“We have reiterated our concerns over the total impunity offered [to the FARC].” Uribe said following the four-hour meeting. He also said it was the an initial meeting and Thursday the two men would continue discussions.

Uribe, now a high-ranking lawmaker, has been an outspoken critic of the peace agreement and help lead the “No” camp to victory.

He and his Democratic Center party insist that a renegotiation of the deal’s terms is necessary because the FARC was given too much.

After his meeting with Uribe, Santos reiterated his commitment to peace. “As I announced after the results of the plebiscite, it is my obligation to find the route to reconciliation,” he said. “All of this must be then be communicated to the FARC delegation in Havana.”

Colombia has been in the grip of an uncertain future since the vote and fears of a renewed conflict are running high.

In a nationally televised address Tuesday night, Santos declared that a bilateral cease-fire with the guerrilla group would end Oct. 31. Those comments appeared to catch the guerrillas off guard.

“Juan Manuel Santos announces that the ceasefire with the FARC extends only until October 31. So, the war begins then?” FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño, alias Timochenko, said via Twitter.

By the same measure and perhaps underlining the delicate nature of the political debate in Colombia right now, FARC member Pastor Alape ordered his men to start moving to “safe areas to avoid any provocations.”

The eyes of the world are on Colombia to see how the country can emerge from such uncertainty.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who was at the historic signing of the peace agreement last month, spoke Tuesday with Santos and reiterated American “support for Colombia as it seeks to secure democratic peace and prosperity for all Colombians,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Kerry also told the Colombian president that a special envoy for the peace process is headed to Cuba at the request of negotiators to support Colombia in the effort.