Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia commander Rodrigo “Timochenko” Londono signed a peace treaty Monday ending the brutal half-century of war between the government and rebel group.
Fifteen Latin American presidents, as well as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. State Secretary John Kerry, were in attendance for the Monday evening ceremony in Cartagena.
The 297-page truce ends a war that cost 220,000 Colombian lives and 8 million people their homes. The half-century war is South America’s oldest armed conflict.
Colombian voters will vote Oct. 2 to endorse or reject the accord in a referendum. Polls indicate most people are in favor of ending the war despite complications relating to how to handle the war crimes committed by thousands of FARC members.
