Ahead of the FARC peace deal in Sunday's referendum, the majority of Colombians are in favor of peace in their country, the polls suggested. According to two polls released on Wednesday, the majority of Colombians would ratify the peace deal, as reported by Colombia reports. For the referendum to be valid, at least 13 percent of the electorate will have to cast their vote on the winning ballot. According to Datexco, 67 percent of the 2,000 voters said they will take part in the referendum. Ipsos stated that 66 percent of those who were polled said they will vote yes.
Considering voter intention per region, the poll showed that a major rejection to the peace deal was measured in the northeast, where the smaller guerrilla group ELN has been highly active.
After a newly-signed peace deal to end Colombia's war, Colombians will vote in the peace deal on Sunday in a referendum in order to be fully ratified.
As FARC rebels are set to begin disarming and demobilizing, the group reportedly surrendered a list of the 5,765 guerrillas to Colombian military. The group will also surrender a list of arms in rebels' possession. "14,000 rifles and handguns and 6,000 other type of arms like grenades and mortars" will reportedly be given to Colombian military.
The FARC is the oldest and largest group among Colombia's left-wing rebels and is one of the world's richest guerrilla armies. The group was founded in 1964, when it declared its intention to overthrow the government and install a Marxist regime.
Colombia's second biggest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), has said it is ready to start formal peace talks with the government. The announcement on Wednesday by the ELN on its Twitter account comes two days after Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signed a peace deal with the far more powerful Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The ELN leftist rebels and the government had announced peace talks in March, but negotiations have been delayed after President Santos demanded the group renounce kidnapping after its fighters took a prominent politician captive.
Shortly after the FARC entered into peace talks with the Colombian government in November 2012, the ELN rebels stated that they were also interested in peace talks with the government. After a Canadian mining executive kidnapped by ELN rebels was released in 2013, President Santos said the government could start peace talks with ELN.
The left-wing rebel group ELN was formed in 1964 and inspired by the Cuban revolution and Marxist ideology. Compared to the FARC, it was considered to be more politically motivated as they stayed out of the illegal drug trade. The group carried out hundreds of kidnappings and hit infrastructure such as oil pipelines in the late 1990s. The group is also on American and European lists of terrorist organizations.
