Colombia’s voters reject deal that would have ended war with FARC
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AFTER a stunning referendum defeat for a peace deal with leftist rebels, Colombians are asking what comes next for their war-torn country, which has no Plan B to save an accord that sought to bring an end to a half century of hostilities.
The damage from Sunday’s vote is still sinking in. Instead of winning by an almost two-to-one margin as pre-election polls had predicted, those favoring the accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia lost by a razor-thin margin, 49.8 percent of the votes to 50.2 percent for those against the deal.
Both President Juan Manuel Santos and leaders of the FARC, having come this far after four years of grueling negotiations, vowed to push ahead, giving no hint they want to resume a war that has already killed 220,000 people and displaced 8 million.
“I won’t give up. I’ll continue search for peace until the last moment of my mandate,” Santos said in a televised address appealing for calm.
But it’s not clear how the already unpopular Santos can save the deal given the stunning political defeat. He ordered his negotiators to return to Cuba to confer with FARC’s top leaders, who watched the results come in with disbelief after earlier ordering drinks and cigars at Club Havana, once Cuba’s most exclusive beach club.
“The FARC deeply regret that the destructive power of those who sow hatred and revenge have influenced the Colombian people’s opinion,” the FARC’s top commander, Timochenko, told reporters.
The loss was even more shocking considering the huge support for the accord among foreign leaders, who heralded it as a model for a world beset by political violence and terrorism. Many heads of state as well as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry were present when Santos and Timochenko signed the deal less than a week ago.
With the outlook uncertain, all eyes are on Santos’ former boss and chief rival Alvaro Uribe, the powerful former president who led the grassroots campaign against the accord. With none of the government’s huge PR machine, an angry Uribe gave voice to millions of Colombians, many of them victims of the FARC like him, who bristled at provisions in the 297-page accord sparing rebels jail time if they confessed their crimes and instead reserved them 10 seats in congress.
Uribe called for a “national pact” and insisted on “correctives” that guarantee respect for the constitution, respect for private enterprise and justice without impunity. He didn’t say whether he would join Santos in trying to salvage the deal.
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