The ceasefire, whose entry into force date has not been specified, “will aim to reduce clashes and violence,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s envoys and “Ivan Mordisco,” the name by which the leader of the Central General Staff Group ( EMC) of the FARC.
The EMC is made up of rebels who refused to sign the landmark 2016 peace deal between the government and the Marxist guerrilla FARC.
The text indicates that this ceasefire will be “temporary” and “national” in nature and announces the development of actions “aimed at promoting civil society participation in the peace process” and “creating a climate of trust”.
Delegates from both sides have been meeting since Thursday in the mountains of the Cauca department, in the southwest of the country, as part of the first official meeting between the government and FARC dissidents, whose income comes from drug trafficking and illegal mining. .
The dissidents, estimated to be about 3,500 men who consider themselves the true heirs of the FARC, have in recent months gathered several other “fronts” operating in different regions of Colombia, mainly in the Amazon, on the Pacific coast and on the border with Venezuela.
Gustavo Petro had announced a bilateral ceasefire with the country’s five main armed groups at midnight on December 31, but suspended the agreement with the EMC in May, when the rebels killed four indigenous youths who objected to recruitment.
The parties announce in today’s statement that negotiations will begin shortly, without specifying the date or place. The process will be watched by several countries, whose names have not been specified, as well as the UN, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the World Council of Churches.
A photo released by the office of the High Commissioner for Peace shows the incumbent president, Danilo Rueda, smiling with the official chief negotiator, Camilo González Posso, and the EMC chief negotiator, known as Andrey Avendaño.
Commander Andrey had presented a ceasefire agreement in advance as a precondition for future negotiations.
President Petro is seeking to end six decades of armed conflict in Colombia by holding peace talks with all illegal armed groups, including the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas.
Source: DN
