Both parties announced that the bilateral ceasefire will begin on October 8, after a previous truce was suspended in May following the murder of four indigenous teenagers by the armed group. Both parties set a dialogue table that will begin that same date and will give rise to peace talks between Gustavo Petro’s Administration and the largest armed dissident of the extinct FARC, the self-proclaimed Central General Staff (EMC).
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“We are in a historic moment and taking a substantial step towards the construction of the great, unprecedented and ambitious proposal for Total Peace in our country. Now we must face skepticism at the national level,” said Danilo Rueda, high commissioner for Peace, at the moment to announce the ceasefire and the start of the dialogues, news that he gave from the department of Cauca, in the southwest of the country.
From the State, the Government’s head negotiator, Camilo González, described the process as “historic” and stressed that there will be multiple protocols and procedures monitored by both parties to ensure compliance with any agreements reached.
Preparations for the meeting will begin on September 19, to begin the dialogue table on October 8. And from November 11 to August 8, 2024, “the scope and compliance in the development of the agenda will be evaluated,” said Andrey Avendaño, chief negotiator of the EMC delegation.
Department of Santander, headquarters of the negotiations
It will be the department of Santander, in the northeast of Colombia and one of the most affected by the conflict in the country, where the dialogue table between the parties will be held and also where the document with the guidelines to follow during the ceasefire will be published. .
On the other hand, the members of the EMC have committed to releasing “in the coming days” three soldiers held as “prisoners of war” by their forces, as well as other hostages kidnapped in the border area between Colombia and Venezuela.
The announcement comes just days after another ceasefire agreed between the Colombian Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla, founded in 1964. An agreement reached after years of negotiations between the two parties and which began on 3 of August.
The death of four minors and the failure of a previous ceasefire
At the beginning of the year, the Colombian president announced a ceasefire agreement with different EMC cells, located mainly in the departments of Meta, Guaviare, Caquetá and Putumayo. However, the truce, agreed for six months, was not fulfilled.
In May, the Government suspended the truce with the dissident group led by alias “Iván Mordisco”, after it became known about the murder of four young indigenous people who had been forcibly recruited by the EMC forces.
The largest dissident of the FARC, which refused to sign the peace agreement with the Government of Juan Manuel Santos in 2016, has been involved in controversies for its contribution to violence in the country. According to a UN report, the EMC was most responsible for serious violations of the human rights of minors within Colombia in 2022.
The EMC forces have around 3,000 combatants and are located mainly in the south, east and west of Colombian territory, where their practices have been denounced by various actors, leading to them being included in the list of terrorist organizations of the United States.
Insight Crime points out that the Central General Staff has extensive armed power, as well as “control of different criminal incomes, especially drug trafficking.” However, the entity points out that the group has weakened in recent years as a result of clashes with other criminal groups and the Colombian Army.
With Reuters, EFE and local media
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