Colombia’s peace process faces uncertainty as citizens reject FARC peace deal
COLOMBIA - The future of the peace process in Colombia is now uncertain as the No camp took a razor-thin lead Sunday in a national vote on whether to accept the agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Weeks of polling had shown the Yes camp would win by an almost two-to-one margin. But with almost all the votes counted, 50.2 percent of Colombians who voted Sunday opposed the deal and 49.8 percent favored it, according to the National Civil Registry’s website. In their immediate reactions to the result, President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC promised that the ceasefire would remain in place. “I am the first to recognize this result with one half of the country saying Yes and the other half of the country saying No,” Santos said in a televised address, while pledging that “the bilateral and definitive ceasefire and end of hostilities remain in place and will remain in place.” He also promised to respect both views expressed in the vote and called for a dialogue between those who oppose the peace agreement and those who support it. “Tomorrow, I will call all political forces, especially those who campaigned for No, to listen to them and open spaces of dialogue to determine the path to follow. We will decide between us which path to take in order to make peace possible,” Santos said. Speaking from Havana, Cuba, where the peace talks were held for four years, FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez said that today’s results are a victory for those who have always bet on war and bloodshed in Colombia. “The FARC deeply regrets that the destructive power of those who spread hate and bitterness has influenced the opinion of the Colombian people,” Jimenez said. However, he said that the desire of the FARC to become a political movement “demands we be stronger in building stable and lasting peace. The FARC maintains their desire for peace and reiterates their desire to only use words as a weapon to build the future. To the Colombian people who dream of peace and who count on us: peace will win.”
Despite this attempted show of unity, the result shows that Colombia is a bitterly divided country. Some of the areas most affected by the conflict voted in support of the deal, such as the department of Cauca, where 67.38 percent backed the agreement. Despite this, two major cities, Medellin and Bucaramanga, saw a major swing toward the No camp, which proved crucial to the result. The low turnout of just 37.4 percent may have been due to Hurricane Matthew, which dumped heavy rain on Colombia’s Caribbean regions. There were calls to extend polling hours but the government refused. (Xinhuanet.com)