(Bogotá) The Colombian government announced on Wednesday the resumption of peace talks with the main dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
“We will resume the planned meetings, in particular a new round of negotiations at the peace table” which will begin this month, Camilo Gonzalez Posso, chief negotiator for the government, said in a video sent to the press.
On November 5, the Central Staff (EMC), the main faction of dissidents who reject the historic 2016 peace agreement which resulted in the disarmament of the Marxist FARC, announced the suspension of discussions, accusing the government of not respecting the rules defined between the two parties.
The EMC had denounced in particular the continuation of army operations in an area under its influence, in the very troubled department of Cauca (southwest).
She accused the military of an incursion into the El Plateado sector, in the Micay canyon. The region is flooded with coca plantations and the authorities accuse the EMC of wanting to keep control of drug trafficking there at all costs. The EMC has significantly increased its operations in recent months in the area.
As of midday on Wednesday, the EMC had still not commented on the government’s announcement of the resumption of discussions.
Postponed several times, negotiations aimed at a peace agreement and the demobilization of the 3,500 members of the dissidence, who consider themselves the true heirs of the FARC, began in mid-October in Tibu, in the northeast of the country.
The installation of this negotiating table took place in parallel with the entry into force of a three-month bilateral ceasefire, endorsed by the Ministry of Defense.
According to government negotiator Mr. Gonzalez, “a contingency mechanism” will be put in place from today to deal with incidents “which disrupt the ceasefire” with this guerrilla, under the supervision of the missions of the UN and OAS (Organization of American States).
Elected in mid-2022, President Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in the history of Colombia, began discussions with the main armed groups operating in the country. Particularly with the Guevarist ELN (National Liberation Army), paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.
This policy of “total peace” encounters numerous obstacles and is severely criticized by the right-wing opposition, while some of these armed groups have redoubled their activity to increase their territorial influence.