Surprisingly, Colombia says no to the peace agreement with the Farc, rejected by referendum by 51,3% of voters. The difference compared to the 49,7% of Yes is just 65 votes, out of a potential audience of 35 million voters. Abstention weighed heavily, reaching 60%.
The result of the consultation is binding on the government and weakens President Juan Manuel Santos, who has been engaged for three years in peace negotiations welcomed by the whole world, led by the USA and the Vatican. At this point, however, all the procedures started to implement the peace plan are suspended.
It was Santos himself who asked for the referendum, convinced that the voters had to express themselves on a historic agreement that put an end to a conflict that lasted 52 years (and cost over 200 deaths and 180 kidnappings). He was convinced of winning and the polls gave him the lead. According to the first analyzes of the vote, the Yes voters prevailed in the areas most affected by the conflict in recent years, while the No voters won in the cities.
The referendum question went like this: "Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and to build a stable and permanent peace?".
The peace accord consisted of 297 pages, written over three years of negotiations in Havana. The main points were: agrarian reform, distribution of land stolen by violence from millions of peasants and landowners, reintegration of the 7 fighters and their protection from revenge and retaliation, formation of a political party representing the former Farc (which would dissolved) which would be granted the guarantee of having five senators and five deputies in Congress until the next elections in 2018. Finally, the reaction of a dozen tribunals was expected, with the presence of international judges, to bring justice to the violence of war .
But Santos could have an ace up his sleeve: he could, in the name of maintaining public order, proceed to a new agreement with the Farc, or to a marginal but still significant modification of this agreement, avoiding however to then submit the new compromise with the former guerrillas for popular suffrage. "The ceasefire is bilateral and definitive, I will seek peace until the last day of my mandate," Santos said.
