Colombia, agreement between the government and FARC dissidents
The Government of Colombia and the dissidents of the FARC Segunda Marquetalia they signed, during the first round of peace negotiations that took place in Caracas from the 24th until last Saturday, the “agreement on advance measures for the global recovery and gradual easing of the conflict in the territories where the organization is present. To this end they established the formation of “a technical subcommittee” that will be responsible for establishing “geo-referencing in the municipalities, hamlets and villages” where the Second Marquetalia, composed of combatants who did not accept the 2016 agreements, “is present”.
The agreement will be presented at a meeting to be held “before July 20” in which the methodology and calendar for identifying “quick impact” social and economic projects will also be defined. For this meeting, the parties request the support of Venezuela, Cuba and Norway, as guarantor countries, as well as the UN Verification Mission and of Colombian Episcopal Conference.
For its part, the Second Marquetalia promised not to remain in uniform or armed in “capitals and urban areas or on primary and secondary land and river routes”, as well as to hand over the people he “detained” and to maintain “the respect and guarantees of the civilian population” . The unilateral ceasefire of the Second Marquetalia “does not imply a limitation of the constitutional and legal powers of the Public Force“, we read in the agreement signed in Caracas.
The implementation of the de-escalation will begin when a presidential decree comes into force suspending offensive military operations and the public force will “guarantee conditions of security.” As part of economic measures to mitigate the conflict and promote peace, the government will prioritize comprehensive agrarian reform programs and land restitution.
Meanwhile, the Second Marquetalia must “respect without restriction the life and integrity of state officials and beneficiaries of said programs in the territories in which it is present”. Furthermore, the parties “will develop a series of measures to promptly contribute to the reparation of victims of the conflict in areas where territorial transformation activities for peace take place.”
These negotiations were announced in early February, when the parties reported the start of a peace process, the third undertaken by the executive of Gustavo Petroafter those started with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Central General Staff (EMC), the main dissident group of the FARCThe second round of negotiations will take place in Cuba in the second week of August, as requested by the Colombian executive and the guerrilla group governing the island.
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