Colombia government and FARC sign agreement to end the civil war

Government and FARC sign agreement to end the civil war...Juan Manuel Santos seeks the path of dialogue with FARC

In an unprecedented agreement, the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed on Monday (27th), in Havana, Cuba, an agreement to end the armed conflict in the country, which has lasted almost 50 years.

The guerrillas gave several statements seeking a way out of the situation in Colombia through dialogue. The content of the agreement will be revealed soon by the Colombian representative, according to the multistate TeleSUR TV.

"Everything evolves very well and the conversations go from strength to strength, according to the reported common interests" of both parties, Jan Egeland, United Nations representative in Colombia told AFP.

The two sides agreed on Saturday (25th), with the development, within a year and a half, on a new design for society that brings the claims of FARC together without being "radical," however.

From Oslo to Havana

The formal completion of negotiations is scheduled for the month of October in Oslo, Norway. "From there, delegates from the government and the guerrillas will return back to Havana with a willingness to negotiate until they come out with the signing of a peace pact to end nearly 50 years of conflict," reports TeleSUR.

According to the program presented by the Colombian authorities, the delegates' travel to Norway would include a visit to the Storting (unicameral parliament) where they will participate in a debate on participatory democracy.

The director of information for TeleSUR, Jorge Enrique Botero, stressed that the peace process began to be gestated in May of last year, when they began secret talks in Havana which involved monitoring by Venezuela, Cuba and Norway.

Also, according to the broadcasting station, the architects on the part of FARC were guerrilla commander, Mauricio, better known as the Doctor (El Médico), who succeeded Jorge Briceño, known as Mono Jojoy. Also they announced that the rebels Rodrigo Granda, Marcos Calarcá and Andrés Paris are participating.

For the Colombian government, the current Security Advisor, Sergio Jaramillo; the Environment Minister, Frank Pearl and Enrique Santos Calderón, brother of the president, Juan Manuel Santos, participated in the process.

First step to peace

In August 2011, the then top FARC leader, Alfonso Cano, announced the desire of the guerrillas to undertake peace talks that would put an end to the war that Colombia has endured for nearly half a century.

In a video published at the time by the New Colombia News Agency (Anncol), and sent to all media, Cano recalled that in his inaugural address, Santos promised to leave behind the "hatred that had characterized the eight years of the previous government."

In a letter published in April this year, the guerrillas expressed their willingness to dialogue with the caveat that "to sit down and talk does not mean any kind of surrender and delivery.  Reincorporation into civilian life implies and requires a different Colombia." And they emphasize to assure that "this is the official will. So certainly we want to create peace among all," says the text.

Exit is not armed

On Monday (27th), the Attorney General of Colombia, Eduardo Montealegre, said that "the way out of the Colombian conflict is not the path of weapons."

On the radio, Montealegre reiterated that "overcoming this conflict of so many decades is through a peace process" and stressed that "peace is a duty and a constitutional right."

From Vermelho, with agencies