Colombia’s FARC rebel faction ready for ‘peace talks’
The armed group Estado Mayor Central, a breakaway organization from the FARC, says it is ready to enter into peace talks with the government on May 16.
An armed faction of Colombia’s disbanded FARC rebels has said they are ready to enter into peace talks with the government next month, which could mark a turning point for leftist President Gustavo Petro’s quest for “total peace”.
“We announce to the whole world that our delegates to the dialogue table with the Colombian state, led by the national government, are already ready for May 16 this year,” said Ángela Izquierdo, spokeswoman for the armed group Estado Mayor Central ( EMC). , told journalists on Sunday.
Petro, a former member of the M-19 urban rebel group, pledged to end six decades of an armed conflict that has killed more than 450,000 people by signing peace or surrender agreements with rebels and criminal gangs, in addition to the full implementation of the pact with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The EMC is one of two breakaway factions of the FARC, made up of former leaders and fighters who did not accept the 2016 peace deal that paved the way for FARC rebels to lay down their arms and form a political party.
Attorney General Francisco Barbosa suspended arrest warrants against more than 20 EMC members in early March, allowing the start of peace talks in the Llano del Yari, on the border between the departments of Meta and Caqueta, in the south of the country.
The group, made up of 3,530 people — 2,180 combatants and 1,350 auxiliaries — has maintained a bilateral ceasefire with the Colombian government since the beginning of the year.
The other dissident FARC faction is the Segunda Marquetalia, which returned to armed struggle in August 2019, claiming that the state was not complying with the peace agreement.
‘Total peace’
Petro came to power last August with plans to bring “total peace” to a country marked by decades of violence.
At the initiative of the president, a six-month ceasefire with dissidents from the FARC and other armed groups has been in effect since January 1. But there have been setbacks.
The National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group, which has been negotiating peace with the government since last November, refuted Petro’s announcement that it was part of the January truce.
Last month, Petro convened government negotiators after ELN fighters killed nine soldiers and wounded nine others.
A new round of talks with the ELN, or National Liberation Army, is scheduled for later this month in Cuba.
Also in March, the government suspended the ceasefire with the Gulf Clan – the country’s largest drug cartel – after attacks on civilians and uniformed personnel.
Colombia’s opposition regularly criticizes Petro for concessions he is willing to make to armed and criminal groups for peace.
Last week, the government said the peace process with EMC was being “consolidated”.
Thousands of people living in EMC-controlled areas showed up for a popular meeting with the group’s leaders on Sunday.