bogot<u+00c1>, colombia<u+2014>a day after signing a peace pact with the government, the supreme leader of the farc said friday the rebel group would support a presidential candidate for the 2018 elections who would prevent the accord from being derailed. meeting with foreign journalists, rodrigo londo<u+00f1>o said implementing accords that call on the farc, or revolutionary armed forces of colombia, to disarm in exchange for seats in congress will be a complex, yearslong undertaking. the accord signed with president juan manuel santos<u+2019>s government calls for the farc to compensate war victims and would create a special judicial system to try former guerrillas and military officers accused of crimes in colombia<u+2019>s 52-year conflict. <u+201c>we consider that the next government, the next president, should guarantee the continuity of the process,<u+201d> said mr. londo<u+00f1>o, who was holding his first press conference in the colombian capital. people who have worked on the peace process say the accords will take as long as a decade to implement, particularly a chapter that calls on a modernization of the countryside. mr. santos<u+2019>s administration ends in 2018; the next administration will play an important role in activating important points laid out in the accord. <u+201c>in any peace agreement, the biggest obstacle is implementation,<u+201d> said cynthia arnson, who tracks colombia<u+2019>s peace process for the washington-based woodrow wilson center. the pact signed thursday came after several weeks of negotiations between the farc and the government following an oct. 2 referendum in which voters rejected an original accord . the two sides made several modifications to that deal, but the opposition democratic center party said it didn't do enough to address their concerns. mr. santos opted to present this second pact before congress, which will likely approve the deal, as the president<u+2019>s broad coalition has a majority. but the democratic center has said it would fight the accord, possibly by triggering another referendum or making the pact a campaign banner ahead of the 2018 election for president. many who oppose the deal are angry that the accord permits farc commanders like mr. londo<u+00f1>o to run for public office. they also believe that the punishment for crimes the farc committed won't be stiff enough. mr. londo<u+00f1>o told reporters that he feared that there could be violence against farc members during the disarmament phase. colombia has a long history of politically motivated killings against leftists and former rebels, and the recent mysterious slayings of a handful of rural activists have many here on edge. <u+201c>we knew and predicted that this type of situation could take place,<u+201d> mr. londo<u+00f1>o said, speaking of the recent spate of violence. he said that the farc believed that the motive was to provoke edgy guerrillas into committing acts of violence, thus breaking a cease-fire. <u+201c>we have alerted our people to not permit themselves to be provoked,<u+201d> he said. <u+2018> we consider that the next government, the next president, should guarantee the continuity of the process. <u+2019> mr. londo<u+00f1>o also had words for u.s. president-elect donald trump. he said that he hoped the coming administration would continue to support the peace process here. <u+201c>we think this new president should give continuity<u+201d> to the current policy, he said. and mr. londo<u+00f1>o also said the farc hoped that the u.s. would free ricardo palmera, a former rebel commander who is serving a 60-year prison term in a supermax prison in florence, colo., for his role in the kidnapping of three americans. american diplomats, though, have told reporters that the u.s. considers the palmera case closed. write to juan forero at juan.forero@wsj.com
farc leader offers support to colombian presidential candidate who backs peace pact  - wsj
noauthor