“‘Goodbye, Weapons!’ FARC Disarmament in Colombia Signals New Era”

‘As United Nations inspectors slammed shut a shipping container filled with rifles, fighters from Colombia’s largest rebel group cheered on Tuesday morning when their leader declared that they had laid down their arms after 52 years of guerrilla war. …  Gaitan Duke, 33, said … that far from surrendering, the rebels were transforming themselves for a new, democratic fight.  “We are not demobilizing,” he said. “We are laying down our weapons to become an open and legal political movement.”’