Colombian government, FARC agree to new peace accord

(Vatican Radio) Colombia’s government is set to sign a new peace accord with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels as part of the latest effort to bring an end to the country’s decades-long civil war.

Listen to Ann Schneible’s report:

After more than half a century of conflict which has left hundreds of thousands of people dead, government peace negotiators and FARC leaders agreed on Tuesday to sign the accord and submit it to Congress for approval.

The new deal will be signed by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono on Thursday in Bogota.

In a televised address Tuesday, the president said: "We have the unique opportunity to close this painful chapter in our history that has bereaved and afflicted millions of Colombians for half a century."

He added that: "This new accord possibly won't satisfy everybody, but that's what happens in peace accords. There are always critical voices; it is understandable and respectable.”

The agreement followed a seven-hour meeting Monday night in which government negotiators tried to persuade former president Alvaro Uribe and other skeptics to support the accord.

It comes a week after a revised peace accord was published by the government when the original draft was rejected in a referendum last month amid objections it was too favorable to the rebels.

The government and FARC rebels have been in talks over the last four years in an effort to bring an end to the 52 year civil war that has killed more than 220,000 and displaced millions of others.