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| Supporters of the agreement watched referendum results - Ariana Cubillos/Associated Press |
War or peace?
Colombians faced those options on Sunday — and, by a margin of less
than 1 percentage point, they voted to remain at war. In a referendum that
aimed to end Latin America's longest guerrilla conflict, voters rejected a
peace agreement to disarm the Marxist rebel group known as the FARC.
The question on the ballot was: "Do you support the final
accord to end the conflict and to construct a stable and lasting peace?"
But now, it's not entirely clear where the negotiations will go
from here — or if they even have a future.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos spent nearly four years
negotiating the peace deal with the FARC. The rejected referendum follows three
failed efforts at peace talks with the FARC, dating back to the 1980s.
Many Colombians despise the FARC due to the rebel group's
involvement in massacres, kidnappings and other human rights abuses. They are
also angry over provisions in the accords that allow rebels accused of war
crimes to escape prison if they confess before a special tribunal. In addition,
some fear the government will raise taxes to pay for its expensive
post-conflict development plans.
Before the referendum, both government and FARC leaders
expressed confidence that the "yes" vote would triumph and were
already moving forward with some of the provisions in the peace accords aimed
at fomenting national reconciliation.
On Friday, FARC commanders traveled to the northern Colombian
town of Apartadó where they apologized for a 1994 massacre in which the
guerrillas killed 22 people accused of belonging to a rival rebel faction.
"Everyone makes mistakes," FARC commander Iván Márquez
told relatives of the victims. "But speaking the truth, pure and simple,
can cure wounds of the soul, no matter how deep they are."
It is
now unclear what will happen to the FARC rebels who were preparing to turn over
their weapons to U.N. inspectors.
