Colombian president to sign final peace deal with FARC before public vote

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will sign the final peace deal with the FARC guerrilla prior to the Oct. 2 plebiscite where the Colombian people will decide whether to approve the agreement or not, government negotiators said Thursday.

Humberto de la Calle, Colombia's top negotiator, told a press conference that both sides had not decided the date and place where the deal will be signed.

"The signing ceremony must be convened between both parties and we are currently discussing this matter. Nonetheless, it will be before the plebiscite," he explained.

Representatives of the Colombian government also said the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is the best opportunity for the South American nation to leave behind more than 50 years of armed conflict.

De la Calle stressed this peace agreement is the product of nearly four years of tough negotiations with the FARC and that Colombians have the possibility to fully endorse it.

"The war is over and the challenge of building a firm and lasting peace has opened up. The work we did in Havana is now accessible to Colombians who will decide whether we were right or not," he added.

De la Calle added that the peace agreement is a great opportunity to replace weapons with political debate, as it will allow the FARC rebels to become a political movement and run in the 2018 elections.

"The guerrilla will be able to run for any office in the 2018 elections within our democratic framework," explained the former vice president.

Meanwhile, Sergio Jaramillo, High Commissioner for Peace in Colombia, said the deal is the only way the South American nation can have a new opportunity to live in peace.

"If this deal becomes a reality, we stop the war, hundreds of soldiers and police in Colombia stop dying every year as well as men and women of the FARC," he said.

On Wednesday, the government and guerrilla delegations reached a final agreement to end the conflict and build a stable and lasting peace.

Earlier this month, both sides announced a protocol and timetable, supervised by the UN, to implement the ceasefire and disarmament agreements signed in June by the rebels' top leader Timoleon Jimenez and President Santos in Cuba.

During the negotiating process, the parties also reached agreements on mechanisms for access to land for poor peasants, transforming the guerrillas into a political party, justice, counter narcotics, mine clearance and search for missing persons.

The accord would commit Colombia's government to carrying out aggressive land reform, a renovation of its anti-narcotics strategy and protect demobilized rebels and leftist activists which traditionally would be killed or marginalized by right wing groups.

Colombia's conflict has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions since 1964. Endit