Colombian gov’t and FARC rebels agree deal

COLOMBIA’S government and Marxist FARC rebels on Saturday announced a revised peace deal to end 52 years of armed conflict, after voters rejected a prior peace accord in a referendum.

“We have reached a new final agreement to end the armed conflict, which incorporates changes, clarifications and some new contributions from various social groups, which we have gone through one by one,” said a joint statement.

The modified agreement leaves intact the accord’s major tenets, including the FARC laying down its arms and becoming a political party. However, it includes a number of “innovations” to several of the key points in the original peace deal, according to the government’s lead negotiator Humberto de la Calle.

The new accord was finetuned after the groups that opposed the original deal submitted proposed changes.

Santos acknowledged that a suggestion seeking to bar rebel leaders involved in serious crimes from elections was not part of the reworked peace deal.

He also hinted that the new accord would maintain the provision that FARC rebels could avoid prison time by confessing and carrying out acts of reparation to victims. But he added that there would be specifications concerning the “effective restriction of their freedom”.

The agreement also states that foreign magistrates will not be allowed on special tribunals to hear cases about those involved in the conflict.

An upbeat chief rebel negotiator Ivan Marquez said: “The only thing the new accord needs now is to be put into effect.” Neither side has made any mention of the new peace deal being put before a referendum vote.