Colombia and FARC attempt to rescue peace deal

After Colombian voters in a referendum on Sunday rejected a peace deal to end 52 years of war with FARC guerrillas, President Juan Manuel Santos has appointed a team of senior government officials to launch talks with the opposition on changes to a peace deal with the FARC rebel group.

The Colombian government’s top two negotiators reportedly flew to Havana to take stock of the political landscape in emergency talks with the FARC leadership, while Santos named three negotiators for bilateral talks with the Democratic Centre party, the party of his rival former president Álvaro Uribe, to try to salvage the peace process.

“With a willingness for peace I’m sure we can find solutions that are satisfactory for all,” Santos said. “We will have to act quickly and set deadlines because the uncertainty and the lack of clarity about what comes next puts at risk everything that has been built.”

Uribe, speaking in the Senate, said the Democratic Centre “has the will for dialogue” but wondered if the government commission would “have the will not just to listen but to introduce modifications” to the text of the accord with the FARC.

Both the government and the FARC have said they will persist in seeking peace for the country after the peace deal was narrowly rejected with 50.2% of voters being against the agreement, and 49.7% who approved it.

“Peace is here to stay,” Rodrigo Londoño, the FARC commander-in-chief said in a video statement from Havana on Monday, adding that the rebel group’s members would not return to hostilities in a war that has cost more than 220,000 lives and displaced more than 6 million from their homes.

His comments echoed a speech after the results were released on Sunday night by Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, who has staked his presidency on the peace deal. “I will not give up.”

The no campaign, led by former president Álvaro Uribe has said the plebiscite results give the government a mandate to renegotiate the accord with the FARC.

Both the FARC and Santos have said they will maintain a bilateral ceasefire that has been in place since 29 August. However, the Guardian reported that it is unclear how long the truce can last in the current political atmosphere.