Colombia government and FARC rebels sign historic ceasefire

Colombia: Colombia is at the brink of ending a 52 year old war that has left more than 220,000 people dead after the country's President Juan Manuel Santos and the head of the country’s leftist FARC rebels agreed on a cease fire deal and rebel demilitarization bring an end to over half a century insurgency on Thursday.

During the ceremony in Havana, president Santos and FARC commander Rodrigo Londono, (aka Timochenko), payed attention to the reading of the details of a deal setting out how 7,000 rebel fighters will decommission and surrender their weapons as soon as a peace accord is implemented.


The agreement capped three years of negotiations in Havana, that pave way for a final peace deal to end the struggle that began in the 1960s out of frustration and deep socio-economic inequalities

 “May this be the last day of the war,” said FARC commander Rodrigo Londono, “We are close to a final peace accord,” he said, after shaking hands with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at the signing ceremony in Havana.

Londono thanked former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is credited with brokering the talks between the FARC and the Colombian government.

  “This is a beacon of hope, our children will be able to enjoy what we could not – a     childhood of peace and a life in peace,” said housewife Adriana Beltrán, 25.

Present at the event was the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a special US envoy and the presidents of Cuba, Chile, Venezuela and other Latin American countries.