No longer on the run, Colombian rebels get issued ID cards

BOGOTA – Leaders of Colombia’s largest rebel army are taking the first step toward being reintegrated back into society after decades on the run: signing up for official ID cards.

Negotiators for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia proudly displayed their national identification cards on social media Friday after government officials travelled to Cuba to issue the documents.

An ex-guerrilla known by his alias Gabriel Angel described on social media the rush he felt stepping legally onto Colombian soil for the first time in 30 years when he entered his country’s embassy in Havana to undergo the time-consuming bureaucratic errand most of his countrymen dread.

He said government officials were anxious to take selfies with the rebels who were a target of law enforcement before a peace deal was reached last month.