The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Marxist guerrilla group launched in 1964, is holding its 10th national conference in El Caguan, its Switzerland-sized stronghold, to ratify a peace accord hashed out in nearly four years of talks.
With this "historic" agreement "it is definitely clear that in this war there are neither winners nor losers," said rebel leader Timoleon Jimenez, as he opened the event.
"If our adversaries want to proclaim that they won the war, that's up to them," Jimenez told some 500 guerrillas gathered for the event.
"For the FARC and our people, the greatest satisfaction will always be having won the peace."
The week-long conference marks the first time they will discuss peace instead of war during such an event. If all goes according to the FARC leadership's plan, it will end with the group's relaunch as a political party.
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- The 'destiny of Colombia' -
Jimenez, better known by his nom de guerre "Timochenko," has been pushing for a peace deal since he became the FARC leader in 2011.
Jimenez urged his followers to ratify the agreement.
"In your hands lies the destiny of Colombia," he told them.
The FARC, which has an estimated 7,500 fighters, reached a peace deal with the Santos administration on August 24, followed by a bilateral ceasefire.
The Colombian conflict, which has drawn in other leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and criminal gangs, has killed more than 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and forced nearly seven million to flee their homes.
If the conference approves the peace deal, as expected, Jimenez will sign the agreement with president Santos on September 26 in the Caribbean port and resort city of Cartagena.
The 297-page document comprises six separate deals: justice and reparations for victims of the conflict; land reform; the FARC's relaunch as a political party; disarmament; fighting the drug trafficking that has fueled the fighting; and implementation and monitoring of the accord.
Jimenez flew in for the conference this week from Cuba, where the peace talks were held.
- Countdown to referendum -
Some 200 FARC delegates, including 29 members of the general staff and delegates elected by the rank and file, will vote on the peace deal.
The conference marks another first: FARC leaders are meeting not in secret, but with the full support from authorities.
The event is held in the presence of around 900 people, including 50 guests and some 400 journalists from around the world.
The peace agreement must still be approved by Colombian voters in a referendum on October 2 -- a step Santos insisted on to ensure the full legitimacy of the process.
Recent opinion polls put the "Yes" vote ahead, though the latest -- released Friday by pollster Datexco -- found support had fallen by 9.5 percentage points, to 55.3 percent, since the previous week.
The "No" camp had 38.3 percent, it found.
The government has yet to open peace talks with a smaller guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).
