Colombia’s president pushes vote on deal

BOGOTA – Colombia’s president is moving quickly to hold a national referendum on a peace deal meant to end a half-century of bloody conflict with leftist rebels, delivering the final text of the deal to congress on Thursday and declaring a definitive cease-fire with the guerrillas. “The armed conflict with the FARC is ending,” President Juan Manuel Santos said on the steps of the congress building while declaring a definitive end to military action against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Members of his family and Cabinet walked with him the short distance from his official residence to hand-deliver the 297-page accord to lawmakers, a move required for Colombia to hold a national referendum on the peace deal that Santos announced for Oct. 2.