Mr. Santos, speaking to more than 700 guests in the ornate Colon Theater in the heart of the capital, said the new accord "gives us hope, faith in the future and the possibility of a better life for us and our children." But his political opponents have promised a fight in congress and are considering the viability of collecting signatures for a petition calling for another plebiscite.
"We can’t forget that on Oct. 2, Colombians rejected this accord," Carlos Holmes Trujillo, a leader in the opposition Democratic Center party, said in an interview. "The people have a right to pronounce themselves."
Going to congress almost virtually assures approval of the 310-page deal, which grants the FARC, or
Revolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaFARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a drug cartel based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and
donations. It has lately begun calling itself
Bolivarianand is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who seemingly fantasizes about living in the woods and kidnapping people himself. He provides FARC with safe areas along the border.
, the right to start a political party in exchange for disarming nearly 6,000 fighters.