The Heat: New Colombian peace deal

The Heat

Colombian President Juan Manuel SantosColombian President Juan Manuel Santos signs the historic peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Bogota, on November 24, 2016 (AFP Photo/Luis Robayo)

More than five decades of war appears to be over as the Colombian Congress ratifies a new peace deal with FARC rebels.

More than 220,000 dead. As many as 5 million displaced – more than one out of every ten Colombians. But on Nov. 30, what began in 1964 with rebels wanting to forcibly redistribute wealth, appears to have ended when Colombia’s legislature formally ratified a revised peace agreement.

The new deal includes 50 changes to an initial one narrowly rejected by voters in October. Among the modifications — a commitment from FARC to forfeit assets, some achieved through drug trafficking, to help compensate victims of the conflict. Under the agreement the rebels have up to six months to demobilize, disarm and report to camps overseen by a United Nations peace force. But FARC is already balking until, they say, an amnesty law is in place pardoning rebels not accused of war crimes. 

Tonight’s panel discusses the new FARC police deal and the future of the conflict in Colombia:

  • Diana Castaneda, an award-winning journalist and anchor for NTN24, an international Spanish language news channel.
  • Michael Shifter , president of The Inter-American Dialogue, a U.S.-based think tank focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • Ana Maria Ibanez has researched the economic consequences of conflict as an Economics Professor at Colombia’s Universidad de Los Andes. She is currently a Visiting Professor at Yale University

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