CUBA: FARC calls for dismantling of Colombia's "counterinsurgency doctrine" during peace talks in Havana

Record ID: 349754

  • Title: CUBA: FARC calls for dismantling of Colombia's "counterinsurgency doctrine" during peace talks in Havana
  • Date: 17th September 2013
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 17, 2013) (REUTERS) PEACE NEGOTIATORS REPRESENTING THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA ARRIVING TO PEACE TALKS FARC PEACE NEGOTIATOR, MARCO LEON CALARCA, OUTSIDE TALKS A CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARC PEACE NEGOTIATOR, MARCO LEON CALARCA, SAYING: "Prohibiting the counterinsurgency doctrines and that of the national security: The structura
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Conflict,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA99RXXSNETRYBGT1DST6U6JRA
  • Story Text: During peace talks with the government in Havana, Cuba, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Tuesday (September 17) called for the shelving of what it called a "counterinsurgency doctrine" and the "national security doctrine" used by Colombia's police and armed forces.
    The government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the country's largest rebel group have been in peace talks since November as they debate a wide range of differences in search of a final peace accord between the two factions which have been in open conflict for nearly half a century.
    As of yet they have only been able to agree on a partial agreement in agrarian reform which was a key issue at the negotiating table.
    Speaking to journalists outside the negotiations, FARC negotiator Marco Leon Calarca read a list of nine proposals the rebel group presented the government on Tuesday which they say guarantee a democratic and participatory political culture.
    One of the key elements was a transition from the government's current military doctrines.
    "Prohibiting the counterinsurgency doctrines and that of the national security: The structural transformation of the political culture includes proscribing the counterinsurgency doctrines and, especially, of the "national security" doctrine imposed by the pentagon and the US Army School of the Americas [Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation] during the Cold War which were adopted as doctrines of the state's armed forces. The banishing of this doctrine entails the state's commitment to take action to guarantee a substantive review of the formation of the military and the police and to be part of the necessary conversation of the armed forces and the police in the event of a final agreement - from occupational forces of repression against the population into peace builders with social justice and the true protectors of national sovereignty," Calarca said.
    The list adds to a series of petitions the leftist group, which is currently debating its future participation in the political realm with the government, has made as part of an agreement to end the internal conflict which has left more than 200,000 dead and millions more displaced.
    Other demands have called for guaranteed rights for political participation by peasant farmers, indigenous groups, groups of African descent and sexual minorities.
    The government delegation, led by former Colombian Vice President Humberto de la Calle, entered shortly after Calacra's statement but did not speak to journalists.
    However, the government has made clear that neither the country's economic model nor its political and military doctrines are up for debate at the peace negotiations.
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