Colombia signs revised peace deal with FARC rebels

The Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels have signed a revised peace agreement to end more than 50 years of conflict, despite continued objections by many who rejected the original deal in an October referendum.

“This is the definitive one,” said President Juan Manuel Santos, after signing the deal on Thursday with FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño, known as Timochenko.

Londoño hailed a deal that will enable Colombians “to definitively end the war and confront our differences in a civilised manner”.

The accord will immediately be sent to Congress. It is expected to pass after being debated next week, as the government’s coalition and allied parties hold a majority in the legislature.

The original agreement was signed on 26 September, but days later, voters rejecting the agreement. Among a host of other objections, critics said it was too soft on guerrilla commanders responsible for war crimes and rewarded them by allowing them to run for public office.

The new agreement introduces some 50 changes intended to assuage critics led by still-powerful former President Alvaro Uribe. They range from a prohibition on foreign magistrates judging crimes by the FARC or government, to a commitment from the armed fighters to forfeit assets some of them amassed through drug trafficking to help compensate their victims.

Opponents of the peace deal maintain that the most crucial points are still unresolved, including eligibility for public office of those convicted of war crimes. “The issues that most worried us about the agreement are still there,” said Samuel Hoyos, a representative of  the Centro Democrático party.

Uribe said other critics of the peace deal had wanted to see further revisions before it was signed, yet they had been disregarded.