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Colombia referendum: Voters reject Farc peace deal Colombia referendum: Voters reject Farc peace deal
(about 4 hours later)
Voters in Colombia have rejected a landmark peace deal with Farc rebels in a shock referendum result, with 50.24% voting against it. Voters in Colombia have rejected a landmark peace deal with Farc rebels in a shock referendum result, with 50.2% voting against it.
The deal was signed last week by President Juan Manuel Santos and Farc leader Timoleon Jimenez after nearly four years of negotiations.The deal was signed last week by President Juan Manuel Santos and Farc leader Timoleon Jimenez after nearly four years of negotiations.
But it needed to be ratified by Colombians in order to come into force.But it needed to be ratified by Colombians in order to come into force.
Addressing the nation, President Santos said he accepted the result but would continue working to achieve peace.Addressing the nation, President Santos said he accepted the result but would continue working to achieve peace.
He said the current ceasefire remained in place and that he had ordered negotiators to travel to Cuba to consult Farc leaders on the next move. How did it happen?
"I won't give up," he said. "I'll continue the search for peace until the last moment of my mandate because that's the way to leave a better country to our children." Colombians were asked to endorse or reject the peace agreement in a popular vote on Sunday.
Meanwhile the Farc leader, known as Timochenko, said the group remained committed to securing an end to the war. The "yes" campaign had the backing not just of President Santos but of a wide array of politicians both in Colombia and abroad, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
He also criticised the No campaign. But there was also a vocal campaign for a "no" vote, led by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
"The Farc deeply regret that the destructive power of those who sow hatred and revenge have influenced the Colombian people's opinion," he told reporters. Polls conducted ahead of Sunday's vote suggested a comfortable win for the "yes" campaign.
The rebels earlier agreed to lay down their weapons after 52 years of conflict to join the political process. But in a surprise result, 50.2% of voters rejected the agreement compared with 49.8% who voted for it.
But critics said the deal treated the Farc, which the US still considers a terrorist group, too leniently. The difference with 98.98% of the votes counted was less than 54,000 votes out of almost 13 million ballots.
The deal would have allowed rebel leaders to avoid a prison sentence if they confessed their crimes. The rebels were also promised 10 seats in congress for the next two elections. Turnout was low with fewer than 38% of voters casting their votes.
The agreement was rejected with 50.2% of voters against it and 49.8% in favour - a difference of less than 63,000 votes out of 13 million ballots. Why did people vote 'no'?
The surprise result means the peace process is now shrouded by uncertainty. Most of those who voted "no" said they thought the peace agreement was letting the rebels "get away with murder".
Former President Alvaro Uribe, who headed the "no" campaign, said all Colombians wanted peace, but that the deal needed "corrections". Under the agreement, special courts would have been created to try crimes committed during the conflict.
Those who confessed to their crimes would have been given more lenient sentences and would have avoided serving any time in conventional prisons.
This, for many Colombians, was one step too far.
They also balked at the government's plan to pay demobilised Farc rebels a monthly stipend and to offer those wanting to start a business financial help.
"No" voters said this amounted to a reward for criminal behaviour while honest citizens were left to struggle financially.
Many also said that they simply did not trust the rebels to keep their promise to lay down arms for good.
They pointed to previous failed peace negotiations when the rebels took advantage of a lull in fighting to regroup and rearm as evidence that the Farc had broken their word before.
Others were unhappy that under the agreement, the Farc would be guaranteed 10 seats in the Colombian Congress in the 2018 and 2022 elections.
They said this would give the newly created party an unfair advantage.
Read more about the deal's most contentious points
What will happen next?
President Santos said that the bilateral ceasefire between government forces and the Farc would remain in place.
He has told government negotiators to travel to to Cuba to consult Farc leaders on the next move.
President Santos has promised to "continue the search for peace until the last moment of my mandate because that's the way to leave a better country to our children".
"I won't give up," he said.
The Farc leader known as Timochenko also said that the rebels remained committed to securing an end to the conflict.
"The Farc reiterates its disposition to use only words as a weapon to build toward the future," he said after the result.
"Count on us, peace will triumph."
But before the vote, President Santos had told the BBC that there was "no Plan B" for ending the conflict, which has killed an estimated 260,000 people.
He said he would meet all political parties on Monday to discuss the next steps and "open space for dialogue".
What does the 'no' campaign want?
The main proponent of the vote against the agreement was former President Alvaro Uribe.
Following the "no" vote, Mr Uribe insisted that he was not opposed to peace but that he wanted to renegotiate some of the agreement, which he said needed "corrections".
Among the "corrections" he has demanded are, among others:
He said he wanted "political pluralism which can't be perceived as a reward for crimes committed, social justice without risk to honest enterprise".
"We want to contribute to a national accord and be heard," he said."We want to contribute to a national accord and be heard," he said.
Analysis - BBC South America correspondent Wyre Davies However, it is not clear whether the Farc would agree to the "corrections" Mr Uribe wants or if they would even consider renegotiating the deal which took four years of formal negotiations and two years of secret talks to reach.
This was arguably the most important vote in Colombia's history and the government had hoped that the promise of peace would have persuaded a majority of voters to accept the agreement. What has been the reaction?
But with fears that too many concessions have been made to the guerrillas, by less than half of 1%, the people of Colombia rejected the agreement (although voter turnout, at only 40%, was remarkably low). One of surprise, as even Mr Uribe, the main backer of the "no" vote, had predicted that the "yes" vote would win.
Speaking on national television shortly after the result was announced, President Santos said that a previously announced ceasefire will hold and that both sides would meet in the Cuban capital, Havana, to decide on a way forward. Some of those who had gathered to watch the result on giant screens expressed their disappointment.
While there's clearly a will across Colombia to end more than half a century of violence, the terms of the deal still worry many Colombians. One woman in Medellin told Caracol radio: "I never thought I could be this sad. I haven't got any victims in my family, nor any siblings who've joined the guerrilla, but I think of my country, of the young people and my heart breaks into a thousand pieces."
President Santos had previously warned that there was no plan B for ending the war, which has killed 260,000 people. Farc leader Timochenko expressed his disappointment with the result which he blamed on "the destructive power of those who sow hatred and revenge" and "have influenced the Colombian people's opinion".
The result of the vote is a major setback to the president, who since his election in 2010 had pledged to end a conflict blamed for displacing about eight million people. Opponents of the agreement, however, took to the streets to celebrate their unexpected win.
Less than a week ago, he was celebrating with world leaders and Farc commanders the end of Latin America's last and longest-running armed conflict at a ceremony in the historic city of Cartagena. Many said that "justice has won" and expressed their relief at the result.
The rebels were making plans to lay down their weapons and become a political party within six months. One Colombian woman told BBC Mundo that Colombians had not forgotten that the path of the Farc was "paved with kidnappings, killings and drug trafficking".
But the president is now facing one of the most difficult moments in Colombia's recent history, says the BBC's Americas Editor Leonardo Rocha. Did you vote in the referendum? How do you feel about the result? Tell us your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
The Farc's 52-year fight You can also contact us in the following ways:
1964: Set up as armed wing of Communist Party Or use the form below
2002: At its height, it had an army of 20,000 fighters controlling up to a third of the country. Senator Ingrid Betancourt kidnapped and held for six years along with 14 other hostages
2008: The Farc suffers a series of defeats in its worst year
2012: Start of peace talks in Havana
2016: Definitive ceasefire
Full timeline of Farc conflict
The 297-page peace deal is a deeply divisive issue in Colombia, and the government has been accused of taking victory for granted.
The referendum campaign spent heavily on television adverts in addition to staging concerts and peace rallies throughout the country in a bid to get people out to vote.
It called on the support of U2's Bono and former Beatle Ringo Starr - and for the first time in an election made ballots available in Braille so blind Colombians could vote.