A beer and a conversation, this is how Santos and Timochenko celebrated the five years since the signing of the Final Peace Agreement

With a beer La Trocha, produced by ex-combatants, the former president Juan Manuel Santos and the former leader of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) Rodrigo Londoño, Timochenko, they celebrated the five years since the signing of the Final Peace Agreement. The meeting took place on November 24 at the Casa de la Paz, the space that promotes the ventures of exFarc.

“A toast to the peace of Colombia with the beers of the signers of the peace. Cheers! ”Timochenko wrote on Twitter, where he attached the photo drinking beer with the former president.

In space, Santos and Timochenko talked about the current status of the Final Peace Agreement and referred to the shortcomings that the current government of President Duque has in the implementation of the document, especially in relation to the commitments agreed with the victims and the veterans’ safety.

Despite the problems, Timochenko assured Santos that he remains “firm” with peace. The former leader of the Farc sent a hint to the national government, but ended up inviting Duque to fulfill the agreement.

“You who have had difficulties on your side and I who have had difficulties on my side, we continue there and we will continue. As I said this morning, this peace train that many have wanted to derail and others stop and continues to advance … Now we have a new passenger, President Iván Duque. Rest assured that we are going to maintain our commitment and despite the obstacles that there are, they will not intimidate us. You have to make Duque completely get on the peace train, ”Timochenko told Santos.

That statement was supported by Santos, who added that not only Duque must commit to peace, but all Colombians. The former president stressed that a division around the “noblest goal” that any society can have makes no sense.

Likewise, Santos highlighted the commitment of the ex-combatants and revealed that part of the money they gave him when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 has been used to support the productive projects of this group. In this sense, he took advantage of the meeting to acknowledge Timochenko for his commitment to building peace.

“Here (in the House of Peace there are enterprises that we have supported with the Nobel Prize money. These enterprises are a small contribution to the construction of peace that as we have said so many times, making peace is difficult but it is more difficult to build peace, the peace of reconciliation. (…) I am excited to see him signing commitments with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, commitments to continue supporting the implementation of peace and the JEP, ”Santos told Timochenko.

This meeting, as expected, generated divided opinions. Of course, the supporters of the Final Peace Agreement have published comments on social networks in which they highlight the meeting and celebrate that a former president and a former guerrilla commander can speak and defend their ideas without violence involved.

One of the comments that go along this line was published by Martín Santos, the eldest son of President Santos, who wrote on Twitter: “It is better to shoot than to shoot.”

Among other milestones of the day, there is the handshake that Duque and Santos gave each other in the middle of an event organized by the Special Jurisdiction of Peace (JEP), led by Eduardo Cifuentes placeholder image. There the political leaders exchanged a greeting that, according to experts, is an evident act of reconciliation after the confrontations that both have starred in; as when the current president attacked the agreement at the UN and his predecessor said he had “done the bear.”

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