Colombia's long civil war came to an official end as President Juan Manuel Santos met with FARC leader "Timochenko" in the Caribbean port of Cartagena to sign a formal peace pact.
Five campesino leaders were assassinated by presumed paramilitary hitmen on the same day that the Colombian government's official ceasefire with the FARC took effect.
The FARC established a Verification Team to oversee demobilization of their fighters—amid dissent both from Colombia's right-wing establishment and dissident rebel factions.
A threat to the Colombian peace talks emerged as some FARC units unilaterally attacked government forces and declared their non-compliance with the ceasefire.
Amid moves toward peace in Colombia, the goad of the war—the country's lucrative cocaine trade—clearly remains robust, as record-breaking hauls are reported.
Under the plan for demobilization of Colombia's FARC guerillas, special zones are to be established for fighters to "concentrate" and then be integrated into civilian life.
The Colombian government announced that it has agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the FARC guerillas—hailed as an historic step toward a deal to end the long civil war.
Colombia's former president and now hardline right-wing opposition leader Álvaro Uribe called for "civil resistance" against the peace dialogue with the FARC guerillas.
More than 3,000 members of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities have been displaced as Colombia's Chocó department is convulsed by conflict with the ELN guerillas.
Havana peace talks between Colombia's government and the FARC are stalled as the government refuses to acknowledge the existence of far-right paramilitaries.
Rights groups see an urgent threat that criminal gangs and paramilitary groups will fill the power vacuum in remote areas of Colombia as the FARC is demobilized.
Leaders of Colombia's indigenous peoples have volunteered to have their autonomous authorities oversee the controversial "demobilization zones" for FARC fighters.
