News of last minute
Colombia:
won the "no" in the plebiscite by the peace agreements with the FARC
In a surprise result, Colombian voters rejected Sunday the
agreement reached by the Government with the guerrillas of the revolutionary
armed forces of Colombia (FARC), plunging the peace process into uncertainty
with the insurgents.
With 99 percent of polling tables counted in the referendum
called by the Government to endorse the agreement with the FARC, the
authorities indicate 49.7% of voters up to now recorded chose, while 50.2% did
no.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Sunday that
"I am the first to recognize the outcome".
The faces in Colombia following the outcome of the
plebiscite by the peace agreements
He said that the bilateral cease-fire with the FARC will
remain valid and the same Monday to summon all political forces, especially to
the opposition, to listen to themand continue to seek an exit dialogued the
conflict with the FARC.
From Cuba, where he was waiting for the results of the
referendum, the top leader of the FARC, Rodrigo Londoño
("Timochenko"), said Sunday that insurgents will continue searching
for a negotiated solution to the hostilities.
"The FARC maintain their desire for peace," he
said.
Meanwhile, this Sunday the former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez,who led the opposition to the peace agreement with the FARC, told media that the feeling of Colombians who voted yes and not had in common that they were looking for peace.
Uribe asked is to protect freedom, justice and respect for
the private business activity.
He said that democracy had been superior to resist what he
called the official pressure to impose the if.
The Uribe said to be interested in participating in a national
agreement with other political forces around the search for peace.
A peace process in limbo
The results
of the plebiscite contrasts with polls that in previous weeks had promised a
comfortable lead for the Yes.
Timoshenko
said that the FARC will continue betting on peace
Santos:
"the cessation of hostilities and fire remains in force and shall
remain"
With the
defeat in the referendum called by the Government, opens a large margin of
uncertainty about the fate of the peace process.
"No victory has generated confusion, mainly because it is not clear in explanations of the advocates of this position how you could renegotiate agreements and President Juan Manuel Santos insisted until the last moment that there is no plan B", said from Bogota correspondent for BBC World, Natalio Cosoy.
In statements to BBC World this Sunday, the lawyer of the
FARC in the process of negotiation, the Spanish Enrique Santiago, argued that
"is is working by the peace, are going to find a solution between
all".
Why did and what happened in more than 50 years war that
bled to Colombia?
The Government of Santos began formal negotiations with the
FARC from 2012.
Santos and the leader of the FARC, Rodrigo Londoño
("Timochenko") signed in the Colombian city of Cartagena on September
26 a peace agreement which it hoped to put an end to an armed conflict that
began in 1964.
This agreement provided for the transformation of the FARC
in a political party.
Criticisms
Several leaders of the opposition in Colombia, led by the
former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, had criticized aspects of the agreement
with the FARC.
Among the
aspects that unleashed more controversy was that the opponents of the agreement
described as inadequate punishments for crimes committed by the rebel leaders
during the conflict.
The
Government had insisted that the agreement contemplated effective mechanisms of
administration of Justice for those responsible for abuses during the conflict
in Colombia, which has been extended for more than five decades.
To be
valid, the agreement with the FARC should put to the popular vote, and obtain
the support of the majority of the voters and at least 13% of the total number
of eligible Colombians to vote, number around 4.5 million people.
What vote exactly the Colombians in the "peace
referendum" on this Sunday
Some spokesmen for the FARC had announced that they would
not be willing to a renegotiation of the Treaty of peace if it rejected the
choice.
"The biggest question possibly FARC, specifically the
rank-and-file guerrillas will have it now:"What happens now with
us?", according to reports from Bogota our correspondent."
Alternatives
Various
Colombian leaders have begun to suggest alternatives to resume dialogues.
Victor G.
Ricardo, who led the Government's negotiations with the FARC during the
previous and unsuccessful peace process led by the then President Andres
Pastrana (1998-2002), told BBC news that a national agreement is required.
"I
believe that now the President must make a national call. You must call people
that led not to explain the agreement, to integrate them into the agreement. No
to the referendum is not a not a peace or can be considered as well. You have
to do a sum that allows that the termination of the conflict enjoys greater
support. The FARC will surely say that they negotiated with the President and
aspire to that the agreement be fulfilled; or that the President must resolve
the obstacles. They will have to examine the possibilities of
renegotiating", Victor G. Ricardo told BBC News.
Colombia:
Uribe proposes "a great national pact" after the victory of the 'no'
in the referendum
Also,
spokesmen for victims of the conflict urged the Government to continue the
peace efforts.
A group of
relatives of members of regional of the Valle del Cauca Department, kidnapped
and murdered by the FARC in 2002, sent a release to view ensuring that
"today, must unite with those of SI and not, with only one purpose: the
construction of a stable and lasting peace in Colombia".
"Today
won democracy in Colombia and is our golden opportunity to strengthen the
agreement to leave a better country to our future generations," said the
relatives of members in its press release.
