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Colombia votes "No" on Peace Deal with FARC

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N

NYCmetsfan

Banned
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombia's peace deal with leftist rebels was on the verge of collapsing in a national referendum Sunday, with those opposing the deal leading by a razor-thin margin with almost all votes counted.

Polls taken before the national referendum, in which voters were asked whether they wanted to ratify or reject a deal ending a half century of hostilities with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, had pointed to the "yes" vote winning by an almost two-to-one margin.

But with more than 99 percent of polling stations reporting, 50.2 percent opposed the accord while just 49.8 percent favored it - a difference of less than 63,000 votes out of 13 million ballots.

The surprise outcome opens an uncertain outlook for the peace accord and is a major blow to President Juan Manuel Santos, who ever since being elected in 2010 had vowed to put an end to a half-century conflict that killed 220,000 and displaced almost 8 million.

Opposition to the accord, led by influential former President Alvaro Uribe, argued that the government was appeasing the FARC and setting a bad example that criminal gangs would seize on. If the "no" vote prevailed, Uribe said, the government should return to the negotiating table.

But that is an option that Santos has ruled out. It's unclear if fighting will resume or what other options the government has to save the accord.

The FARC, in a cryptic message, made no indication of its future plans. "The love we feel in our hearts is gigantic and with our words and actions will be able to reach peace," the rebels said in a message published on Twitter as the "no" vote looked headed to victory.

The highly polarized campaign exposed how steep a challenge the government would face implementing the 297-page accord and bringing about real reconciliation. Colombians overwhelmingly loathe the FARC, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group, and many considered provisions in the accord that would spare the rebels jail time an insult to victims of the long-running conflict.

Turnout was low, less than the 40 percent seen in recent congressional elections, a further sign to some analysts that Colombians' enthusiasm for the ambitious accord was lacking. Turnout was especially affected along the Caribbean coast, where support for the government is highest, as a result of heavy rainfall from Hurricane Matthew, which made it impossible to set up a few polling stations in La Guajira peninsula.

In the past month, ever since the deal was announced in Cuba after four years of grueling negotiations, the government spent heavily on television ads and staged concerts and peace rallies around the country to get out the vote. It even enrolled the help of U2's Bono and former Beatle Ringo Starr. And for the first time in an election, it made ballots available in Braille so blind Colombians could vote.

Santos had urged his compatriots to vote early and take inspiration from Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-10-02-18-06-53

Figured this was new news and needed a new thread
 
S

Snowybreak

Member
Oh fucking come on... Putting up a referendum for a peace deal (something that the populace may not fully understand) is idiotic.
 
davepoobond

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
damn

hopefully something else can be worked out


the public voting for a war to continue is pretty dumb
 
T

The Lamp

Member
Snowybreak said:
Oh fucking come on... Putting up a referendum for a peace deal (something that the populace may not fully understand) is idiotic.
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I dunno, generally I agree, but Colombia's been in this war for decades. We know FARC and we know ELN and we know what's going on and there were pros and cons to saying yes or no.

I say "yes" would have been a better decision but I guess a lot of the voters thought the peace deal didn't offer enough protection for their interests. I hope a renegotiation can occur.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Lemme just repost this as a Colombian:

giphy.gif
 
D

Deleted member 231381

Unconfirmed Member
self_aware_keyboard said:
They modeled their process off the Irish peace process (good Friday), this was put to a ref. with the Irish people.
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I think something of this scale needs democratic legitimacy. Both sides need to know that the will of the people was there; it empowers those arguing for peace and weakens the position of those wanting to return to war. Unfortunately, the reason that a referendum has democratic legitimacy is because sometimes it doesn't go the way those who called it want. That's what happened in Colombia. That doesn't mean the referendum shouldn't have been called; it absolutely should have been. It just means that sometimes, life is bitterly cruel and unfair.
 
A

Anticol

Banned
The funny thing is that the people who are and were mostly never affected by the conflict were the people who voted no, mostly the people in most big cities. It is easy to look for revenge when neither you nor your family are the one getting killed and killing on it, I feel so sad about my country today.
 
M

Meadows

Banned
50.2 is the number of the year, fucking hell that's dumb

edit: just remembered Brexit was 52%, not 50.2%.....vote trump yall
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
2016 is the worst year of the decade. You can't convince me otherwise. My Facebook is going crazy, and not in a good way.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
MrChocolate said:
Actually it works fine and dandy. The problem is that it isn't the result some people wanted.
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I think direct democracy only works if the population is educated enough. Colombia is not a smart country as evidenced.
 
P

Pau

Member
Without a referendum you'd get people saying it was all corrupt politicians. I mean, my parents already said that the vote was rigged in favor of Yes so you still have those sentiments, but at least it's something.

Anticol said:
The funny thing is that the people who are and were mostly never affected by the conflict were the people who voted no, mostly the people in most big cities. It is easy to look for revenge when neither you nor your family are the one getting killed and killing on it, I feel so sad about my country today.
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That's not what I expected but I don't know anyone outside of my family who are direct victims and very much want revenge. But they are also the first people who the government wants to protect in this conflict so voting No doesn't particularly harm them as it does others.
 
M

Majine

Banned
MrChocolate said:
Actually it works fine and dandy. The problem is that it isn't the result some people wanted.
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How does it work when apparently a huge amount of people are uneducated and/or vote out of personal vendettas, not what's best for their country? I certainly wouldn't trust my country's population to decide for these matters, and is extremely happy to have representative democracy as one layer of fail safe against batshit insane decisions.

I'm not an expert tho (as internet posters would say)...
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
14479745_761917083947189_210587500207728689_n.jpg


14502760_761857163953181_4941374796297235466_n.jpg
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It's a shame that their populations were so small.

MrChocolate said:
So the US population isn't smart? Or UK? Or Brazil? Evidenced by previous elections (in different issues).
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Do you honestly want an answer to that? Brexit wasn't economically favorable for people who voted Leave, almost 50% of the US wants to vote for Trump. I'm not saying they're idiots, I'm just saying they should have probably studied their political decisions more thoroughly, which they didn't, which wasn't smart. That Albert Einstein quote on ignorance didn't come out from nowhere.
 
V

Valentus

Member
So what happens now? FARC take their weapons back and lets keep kidnapping people for 20 years in the jungle?

This is the most bizarre result i've ever seen, even worse than brexit.
 
B

Branduil

Member
Imagine if Obama had left the Iran deal up to a referendum.

Thank goodness he isn't that dumb. Voters are especially stupid on issues like this.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Valentus said:
So what happens now? FARC take their weapons back and lets keep kidnapping people for 20 years in the jungle?

This is the most bizarre result i've ever seen, even worse than brexit.
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The President is bound to talk in 25 minutes.

FARC has been hushed, although they've said they're still for peace, and they don't have Plan B.
 
-sdp

-sdp

Member
I guess the thread of Peace in the American continent was a bit too early...or jinxed it.
 
D

Deleted member 231381

Unconfirmed Member
Juan29.zapata said:
The President is bound to talk in 25 minutes.

FARC has been hushed, although they've said they're still for peace, and they don't have Plan B.
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Will they be for peace when the government is forced to come for them, though? What are they going to do, just drops arms and accept whatever retribution gets doled out? It's simply not credible.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Crab said:
Will they be for peace when the government is forced to come for them, though? What are they going to do, just drops arms and accept whatever retribution gets doled out? It's simply not credible.
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I honestly don't know, man. I don't think anybody knows, not even the political parties who were going for No.
 
V

Valentus

Member
Does FARC have the man and gunpower to come back to an armed front? Or this is like FARC has weakened enough to return to its armed stance and thats part of the reason that they had searched peace too?

Thank you colombian gaffers to help us to understand all this. This is just insane.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
That map is fucking depressing. You can also tell which zones have high population of evangelicals. Some No politicians used to say that Colombia would turn into a "communist-atheist-homosexual" country if Yes won.

Valentus said:
Does FARC have the man and gunpower to come back to an armed front? Or this is like FARC has weakened enough to return to its armed stance and thats part of the reason that they had searched peace too?

Thank you colombian gaffers to help us to understand all this. This is just insane.
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The FARC has almost 6 thousand men and women in their ranks. They hide in the jungle. They know how to fight through 50 years of experience. Sure they don't have the military budget of the government, but they have survived. If they really wanted they could go back.

I don't know if they want though. If they back off, they'll just give the No people the reason. I hope they don't.
 
O

Oriel

Member
2016 has really turned me off referenda as a means of deciding public issues. Sometimes an issue is just too damn important to be fucked up by a wilfully ignorant electorate.
 
B

Boke1879

Member
Oh no. I really don't get this.

But there will be a referendum for us in America next month. Don't stay at home thinking "it'll never happen." Get your asses out and vote.
 
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