Historic peace deal in Colombia

Government, rebels end violence that killed more than 220,000

CARTAGENA, Colombia — More than 220,000 deaths, 8 million homeless and countless human rights violations: These are the tragic toll of South America’s oldest armed conflict, which begins to wind down with the signing Monday of a historic agreement between Colombia’s government and the country’s largest rebel movement to end a half-century of hostilities.

Underlining the significance of the deal, President Juan Manuel Santos and the top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a rebel fighter known by the alias Timochenko, were to sign the accord in the colonial city of Cartagena. Fifteen Latin American presidents as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry were on hand to witness the signing.

In a ceremony charged with symbolism befitting a historic moment that generations of Colombians thought they would never see, the more than 2,500 guests were asked to wear white as a sign of peace and Santos was to sign the 297-page accord with a pen made from a recycled shell used in combat.

Earlier Monday, Santos and the foreign dignitaries attended a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, at a baroque church named for St. Peter Claver, a 17th-century Jesuit priest revered as the “slave of slaves” for his role aiding tens of thousands of African slaves brought to the New World as chattel.

In a stirring homily, Pope Francis’ envoy praised Colombians for overcoming the pain of the bloody conflict to find common ground with the rebels.

Across the country Colombians marked the occasion with a host of activities, from peace concerts by top-name artists to a street party in the capital, Bogota, where the signing ceremony was to be broadcast live on a giant screen. It was also celebrated by hundreds of guerrillas gathered in a remote region of southern Colombia where last week top commanders ratified the accord in what they said would be their last conference as a guerrilla army.

The signing won’t close the deal, however. Colombians will be given the final say on endorsing or rejecting the accord in an Oct. 2 referendum.

RICARDO MAZALAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS Tatiana, a rebel of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, is kissed by her grandmother Monday as they watch live images of government and FARC leaders signing a peace agreement in Cartagena.

LUIS ACOSTA/GETTY IMAGES Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and the leader of the FARC, Rodrigo Londono, right, better known as Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez, congratulate each other as Cuban President Raul Castro looks on after the signing of the historic peace...