The government of Colombia and left-wing Farc rebels have agreed on land reform, after more than six months of peace talks.
"This agreement will be the start of a radical transformation of rural Colombia," read a joint statement.The deal calls for the economic and social development of rural areas and providing land to poor farmers.
Land reform is one of the most contentious issues in the talks on ending five decades of conflict.
"Today we have a real opportunity to attain peace through dialogue,'' said the Colombian government's chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle.
"To support this process is to believe in Colombia," he told journalists at the talks in the Cuban capital, Havana.
The Farc, Colombia's largest guerrilla group, has been in talks with the government on the Caribbean island since last November.
It is the fourth attempt to reach a negotiated settlement of the conflict, the longest-running in Latin America.
Long way to peace Sunday's agreement calls for fair access to land, and rural development - two key causes of the armed conflict.
It also calls for the creation of a land bank, as a way to reallocate land, including areas seized illegally during the fighting.
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Rural reform was always going to be a tough issue, so closely entwined with the causes of the conflict. But there was pressure to show results after six months of discussion.
So the teams worked late over the last few days, hammering out the deal.
Precise details have not been disclosed. Neither side took questions from journalists. Colombia's government wants to minimise outside pressure during the process, keen to avoid the fate of previous, failed talks: it argues that any final peace agreement will be put to a referendum.
But the agreement centres around "fair access" to land. Those closely involved say land will be reclaimed from those who seized it illegally and reallocated via a 'land bank' along with areas currently underused. The government's chief negotiator stressed that "legal landowners have nothing to fear".
At the talks
This is the first, significant milestone in the peace talks and a welcome advance for the Colombian government which initiated the process.Rural reform was always going to be a tough issue, so closely entwined with the causes of the conflict. But there was pressure to show results after six months of discussion.
So the teams worked late over the last few days, hammering out the deal.
Precise details have not been disclosed. Neither side took questions from journalists. Colombia's government wants to minimise outside pressure during the process, keen to avoid the fate of previous, failed talks: it argues that any final peace agreement will be put to a referendum.
But the agreement centres around "fair access" to land. Those closely involved say land will be reclaimed from those who seized it illegally and reallocated via a 'land bank' along with areas currently underused. The government's chief negotiator stressed that "legal landowners have nothing to fear".
Analysts
and aid groups say much of it was taken by far-right paramilitary
groups on behalf of cattle ranchers and drug traffickers.
The government, however, blames at least a third of the seizures on the Farc - a claim the rebels deny.The agreement marks a significant step forward in the peace process, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Cuba.
Peace talks will resume on 11 June on the second major issue - the rebels' participation in politics.
After Sunday's agreement was announced, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Twitter: "We celebrate, really, this fundamental step in Havana... to end half a century of conflict.
"We will continue the (peace) process with care and responsibility."
Mr Santos previously said he wanted the talks to end this year.
But both parties have stressed that nothing is finalised until a complete peace accord is reached.
