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Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and Timoleon Jimenez. Photo credit: ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/GettyImages
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed a revised peace agreement with the country’s largest rebel movement on Thursday, making a second attempt within months to end a half-century of hostilities.
Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed the 310-page accord at Bogota’s historic Colon Theater – nearly two months after the original deal was surprisingly rejected in a referendum. After signing the deal with a pen made from the shell of an assault rifle bullet, they clasped hands to shouts of “Yes we could!” The new agreement is different from the previous one in the following ways:
In his speech, Londono apologised to the victims of the conflict in the name of the FARC, and hailed the new agreement as the common wish of all Colombians to end the war. "Words are the only weapons that Colombians allow us to use," said Londono, who called on the former enemies to co-exist despite their differences.
“In 150 days – only 150 days – all of the FARC’s weapons will be in the hands of the United Nations,” he said during the only part of his speech that drew applause from the audience. Within 90 days after the approval, the FARC will begin to lay down arms. And within five months, all the weapons of the FARC will be in the hands of the UN.
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