Stunned Latin America Exhorts Colombia to Keep Seeking Peace with FARC Rebels Alexandra Ulmer and Mitra Taj - Thomson Reuters Foundation
go to original October 3, 2016

Colombia and FARC rebels scramble to revive their peace deal (Euronews)

Latin America bemoaned Colombian voters' rejection of a peace deal with Marxist insurgents but regional leaders urged Bogota to keep pursing efforts to end the longest-running conflict in the Americas.

Regional countries were heavily involved in drafting a plan to end the 52-year conflict. Havana hosted four years of peace negotiations while Chile, Cuba, and Venezuela acted as guarantor and observer countries.

Nations from leftist-run Venezuela to center-right Peru lamented the outcome of Sunday's referendum, the "No" camp won by less than half a percentage point.

...Colombians who voted against the deal put forward by center-right President Juan Manuel Santos argue it was too lenient on the FARC rebels by allowing them to re-enter society, form a political party, and escape jail sentences.

Foreigners had celebrated the peace agreement without understanding its implications, they say.

Read the rest at Thomson Reuters Foundation

Related: On Colombia Peace Vote, Pollsters Miss Again (WSJ.com)

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