The truce was suspended in May. The Colombian government and a main faction of the dissident Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have agreed to renew the bilateral ceasefire, broken for several months, as the parties announced on Saturday, and are set to begin peace talks.
The truce, for which no start date has been given, “will be aimed at reducing confrontation and violence,” presidential emissaries Gustavo Petro and “Ivan Mordisco,” the FARC Central Major (EMC) head of state, said in a press release. . The EMC is made up of rebels who refused to sign the historic 2016 peace agreement between the government and the Marxist guerrillas.
The text states that this ceasefire will be “temporary” and “national” in nature, and announces the development of actions “aimed at facilitating the participation of civil society in the peace process” and “establishing a sense of confidence.” Delegates have been meeting since Thursday in the mountains of Cauca department (southwest), the first official meeting between the government and the dissenting group FARC, which profits from drug trafficking and illegal mining.
About 3500 people
The dissidents, numbering some 3,500 who consider themselves the true heirs of the FARC, have in recent months united several other “Fronts” operating in various regions of Colombia, mainly in the Amazon, on the Pacific coast and on the border with Venezuela. . Gustavo Petro announced a bilateral truce with the country’s five main armed groups at midnight on December 31, but suspended the agreement with the EMC in May when insurgents killed four indigenous youths who opposed their recruitment.
In a press release, the parties announce the imminent start of negotiations, without specifying the date and place. This process will be overseen by several countries, whose names are not specified, as well as the UN, the Organization of American States (OAS) or the Ecumenical Council of Churches. In a photo released by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the latter, Danilo Rueda, smiles alongside official chief negotiator Camilo González Posso and EMC chief negotiator known as Andrei Avendaño. Commander Andrei set a preliminary ceasefire agreement as a condition for future negotiations.
President Petro seeks to end sixty years of armed conflict through peaceful negotiations with all illegal armed groups, including the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas.
Source: Le Parisien
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