Colombia’s president extends ceasefire

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and Marxist rebel leader Timochenko shake hands after signing an accord ending a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people, in Cartagena, Colombia REUTERS/John Vizcaino

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos hopes to have a peace agreement with the FARC and ELN in place before the turn of the year.

The president will extend the ceasefire with the largest guerrilla group in the country, the FARC, until 31 December.

Colombia’s population voted no to the negotiated peace agreement between the government and FARC earlier this month, but both parties will continue to work toward a final peace agreement.

On Tuesday it became known that the guerrilla group ELN is now willing to negotiate a peace agreement.

Motivated

President Santos, despite Colombians voting no in the referendum, got the Nobel Peace Prize for his longstanding efforts to promote peace.

– Let’s be clear. This is not an ultimatum or a deadline, says Santos.

This year’s Laureate is working on getting broader support from the population in order to create greater commitment around a possible new referendum.

The Nobel Prize seems to have motivated the peace negotiator.

After the population voted no to the peace agreement,  Santos has had a number of conversations and meetings with other  politicians, including  opposition leader and former president  Alvaro Uribe.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today