Colombia’s government, rebels sign modified peace agreement
HAVANA — Colombia’s government and its largest rebel group signed a new, modified peace accord in Havana on Saturday following the surprise rejection of an earlier deal by voters in a referendum.
The latest agreement aims to address some of the concerns of opponents of the original accord, who said the deal was too lenient on a rebel group that had kidnapped and committed war crimes.
“The new deal is an opportunity to clear up doubts, but above all to unite us,” said government negotiator Humberto de la Calle, who signed the accord along with rebel negotiator Ivan Marquez, moving to end a half-century-long conflict that has claimed more than 220,000 lives and driven almost 8 million people from their homes.
De la Calle described the text of the modified accord as “much better” than the previous one, but didn’t say if or how it would be submitted again to voters or to congress.