Colombia's congress ratifies peace accord with rebels

After more than five decades of conflict, more than four years of negotiations in Cuba and two signing ceremonies, Colombia's congress formally ratified a peace agreement allowing left wing rebels of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) to enter politics.

Colombia´s president Juan Manuel Santos and rebel leader Rodrigo Londoño signed the revised accord last week in a ceremony in Bogota. The new agreement, that ends Latin America's longest insurgency, was put together in just over a month after the original pact - which allowed the rebels to hold public office and skip jail - was unexpectedly defeated in a referéndum on 2nd of October. The opposition with its leader and former president of Colombia (2002 - 2010) Alvaro Uribe argued that the deal offered too many concessions to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and did not serve as a deterrent for other groups involved in crime.

Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize 2016 for his peace efforts, wants to get the deal implemented as quickly as possible to maintain the ceasefire deal with the FARC. The peace deal will formally end the continents´s longest-running conflict that has killed more than 220,000 and displaced millions of people.

We will keep you updated about the implementation process.