http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/03/world/colombia-peace-deal-defeat.html 2016-10-03 01:30:38 Colombia Peace Deal Headed to Defeat, Causing Shock and Uncertainty With nearly all of the ballots counted, voters appeared to have rejected an agreement that would have ended the country’s 52-year civil war. === BOGOTÁ, Colombia — In a move that sent a wave of shock through Latin America, Colombian voters on Sunday appeared headed to reject a peace deal that had been signed by their president and the largest rebel group, leaving the fate of a 52-year war suddenly uncertain. Though the vote had not been called officially by the government, the “no” vote for the referendum was ahead by a half percentage point with 99 percent of the ballots counted, the government said Sunday. The result was a deep embarrassment for President And it left the future of rebels who had planned to rejoin The question voters were asked was simple: “Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and construct a stable and enduring peace?” But it was one that had divided this country for generations, as successive governments fought what seemed a war without end and Marxist rebels dug into the forest for what amounted to a hopeless insurgency. In the capital, Bogotá, voters turned out on a rainy day for a vote that had even divided households. Carlos Gallon, a 42-year-old engineer, said he would be voting for the deal, despite the objections of his wife, María Fernanda González. “I understand why she is voting no,” he said. “But we have to try something other than 50 years of war.” Ms. González, 39, an administrator at a telecommunications company, said she wanted peace, but thought the FARC could not be trusted. “Why didn’t they turn in their arms and tell the world what happened to the people they kidnapped, as a gesture during the talks?” she asked. The failure of the agreement, if confirmed by the government, would overturn a timetable meant to bring an end to the FARC insurgency within months. The rebels had agreed to immediately abandon their battle camps for 28 “concentration zones” throughout the country, where over the next six months they would hand over their weapons to United Nations teams. Under the agreement, rank-and-file fighters were expected to be granted amnesty and begin life as civilians. Those involved in war crimes would be judged in special tribunals with reduced sentences, many expected to involve years of community service work, such as removing land mines the FARC once planted to snare its enemies.