FARC

Two important referendums took place on Oct. 2 - one in Hungary and the other in Colombia. 

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 has been awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his efforts to end his country’s 50-year civil war. Juan Manuel Santos dedicated the Prize to victims of his country’s civil war, which he has worked to end through a peace accord with FARC rebels.

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 has been awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his "decisive efforts to end the 50-year civil conflict in the country which has taken the lives of over 220,000 people and driven another 6 million from their homes," read the decision of the Nobel Committee.

To the dismay of the Greek island folk, who were many considered as favourites to win the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts during the refugees crisis, the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos was the winner of the prestigious award. Santos received the award for his efforts to end the 52-year conflict with left-wing rebels.

The Colombian government and Marxist guerrillas went back to the drawing board on Oct. 4 after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result. 

In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Oct. 2 as too lenient on the rebels. 

BOGOTÁ, Colombia - In a shocking development, the peace deal between government forces and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has suffered a setback after the public, heavily influenced by political manipulation, voter turnout and outright lies by former leaders, voted against it by a razor-thin margin.

Colombians hit their government with a shock defeat on Oct. 2 when they voted by a razor-thin majority to reject a historic peace accord with communist FARC rebels.

CARTAGENA, Colombia - In a historic event, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos shook hands Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri 'Timochenko,' the leader of the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and with this physical gesture, a peace agreement that ended 52 years of war between government forces and the rebels was finally reached.

After a half-century of combat that spilled blood across this South American nation, Colombians have embarked on a new, but difficult path to settle their political differences with the signing of a historic peace accord between the government and leftist rebels.

Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), freed an ex-governor on April 3 held captive since 2013, in a new boost to peace efforts.

"Pleased by the release of (Choco department) ex governor Patrocinio Sanchez Montes de Oca. Much support to him and family. #welcometofreedom," the Choco governor's office said on Twitter.