Colombia’s FARC Rebels Officially Lay Down Arms
In what is being proclaimed as a sweeping step towards fulfilling last year's peace agreement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has met a critical condition in the deal by handing over all of their deadly arms to United Nations monitors.
The UN states that it has registered and collected more than 7,000 FARC weapons. In addition, it also claims that 77 out of 900 clandestine arms caches operated by FARC rebels have been found and emptied.
The peace agreement is a landmark event in Colombia's history as it attempts to conclude Latin America's longest-running conflict that has spanned well over 50 years and taken nearly 260,000 lives.
Achim Steiner @UNDP Administrator congratulated Colombia for the final laying down of arms today of @FARC_EPueblo pic.twitter.com/TdcKTqXnym
— Emb María Emma Mejía (@ColombiaONU) June 27, 2017
A symbolic ceremony marking the end of the historic disarmament process was held on Tuesday and attended by FARC top commander Rodrigo Londono and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, a Nobel Prize winner for his role in negotiating the peace with the guerilla group. Although certain opponent groups in Colombia doubt the rebels' pledge to lay down all of their weapons, experts believe the focus should center around the fact that FARC has taken steps to demobilize and reintegrate into Colombian society. The former FARC stronghold town of Mesetas served as the host site for the ceremonious occasion earlier today.
.@TimoFARC | Goodbye to the arms. Goodbye to the war. Welcome peace! #AdiosALasArmas pic.twitter.com/OyK9s7b276 — teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) June 27, 2017
Los colombianos hoy si tienen de que ser orgullosos. Una guerra que se termina, carajo. ¡Felicidades! https://t.co/LFGcVdJvsf — Jon Lee Anderson (@jonleeanderson) June 27, 2017
This is no longer words on paper. This is historic action. The #FARC have laid down their arms!#FarewellToArms #DejacionDeArmas #Colombia pic.twitter.com/hs5aZeyAM3 — UKUN_NewYork (@UKUN_NewYork) June 27, 2017
I congratulate the FARC leaders on keeping their commitment to me to embrace nonviolence, by giving up all their weapons to the UN today. — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) June 27, 2017
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