COLOMBIA’S government and FARC rebels announced that they have reached a historic peace deal to end their half-century civil war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

    After nearly four years of negotiations in Cuba, the two sides announced a final deal, which President Juan Manuel Santos said would be put to a decisive referendum Oct. 2.

    “The Colombian government and the FARC announce that we have reached a final, full and definitive accord ... on ending the conflict and building a stable and enduring peace,” the two sides said in a joint statement read out in Havana by Cuban diplomat Rodolfo Benitez.

    “We don’t want one more victim in Colombia.”

    In a national address just after the announcement, Santos — who has staked his legacy on the peace process — said the deal marked “the end of the suffering, the pain and the tragedy of war.”

    He immediately launched his campaign for a “Yes” vote in the referendum, which he said would be the most important election of voters’ lives.

    “This is a historic and unique opportunity ... to leave behind this conflict and dedicate our efforts to building a more secure, safe, equitable, educated country, for all of us, for our children and grandchildren,” he said.

    The conflict began with the founding of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 1964, at a time when leftist guerrilla armies were fighting to sow revolution throughout Latin America.

    Over the years, it has killed 260,000 people, uprooted 6.8 million and left 45,000 missing.

    Along the way, it has drawn in several leftist rebel groups and right-wing paramilitaries. Drug cartels have also fueled the violence in the world’s largest cocaine-producing country.

    (SD-Agencies)