Colombia takes historic step to peace as rebels lay down guns
MESETAS, Colombia — Colombia reached a major milestone on its road to peace Tuesday as leftist rebels relinquished some of their last weapons and declared an end to their halfcentury insurgency.
The historic step was taken as President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to this demobilization camp in Colombia’s eastern jungles to join guerrilla leaders as they begin their transition to civilian life.
In a short, symbol-filled ceremony, U.N. observers shut and padlocked the last containers storing some of the 7,132 weapons that members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia have turned over during the past few weeks at 26 camps across the country. Yellow butterflies were released and an AK-47 converted into an electric guitar rang out plaintive chords in honor of the conflict’s victims.
Though hundreds of FARC caches filled with larger weapons and explosives are still being cleared, the U.N. on Monday certified that all individual firearms and weapons, except for a small number needed to safeguard the soon-to disband camps, have been collected.
The day put Colombia one step closer to turning a page on Latin America’s longest-running conflict, which caused at least 250,000 deaths, left 60,000 people missing and displaced more than 7 million.
After years of thorny negotiations, the rebels reached an agreement with the government last year to give up their weapons and transition into a political party. But implementing the accord has been slow.
The initial deal was narrowly rejected in a national referendum, Congress has struggled to pass laws implementing the revised accord, and opposition lawmakers are threatening to overturn key aspects of the deal if they win the presidential election next year.