President Juan Manuel Santos and the commander of Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC will formally sign a peace deal in the second half of September, weeks ahead of a popular vote on the deal.
In an interview with CNN, Santos said the protocol will take place “between 20 and 30 September.”
A final date will be defined in the coming, but what the president left clear is that the government and the FARC will move ahead with the peace process, disregarding an October 2 vote that could sink the entire deal.
Colombia to vote on FARC peace deal on October 2
Negotiators of the Santos administration and FARC guerrillas announced they had finalized peace talks earlier this week after the negotiation teams released the 297-page document of terms.
The peace deal allows the FARC’s abandonment of criminal activity and inclusion into politics. The accord also contains far-stretching rural and political reforms that seek to tackle some of the causes of the conflict that began in 1964.
Colombia and FARC rebels reach historic peace deal after bloody war
What is preventing the definition of the date for the signing of the peace deal is that the FARC first has to have its 10th guerrilla conference during the organization formally will dissolve itself.
Once this is completed, the then former-guerrilla leader “Timochenko” and Santos will be able to set the date for the formal signing of the peace deal and the FARC demobilization, disarmament and reintegration program begins.
What stands between today and peace with Colombia’s FARC rebels
The Santos administration had been holding secret talks with the FARC since early 2011 and initiated the formal phase in later 2012. If approved by the Colombian public, the armed conflict between the guerrillas and the state that has left millions of victims will end after 52 years and a few months.