CUBA: Lead government negotiator Humberto de la Calle says victims should be present in peace talks and expresses dismay over the withdrawal of congresswoman and FARC kidnap victim, Clara Rojas, from the negotiations

Record ID: 349970

  • Title: CUBA: Lead government negotiator Humberto de la Calle says victims should be present in peace talks and expresses dismay over the withdrawal of congresswoman and FARC kidnap victim, Clara Rojas, from the negotiations
  • Date: 9th September 2014
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 9, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FARC DELEGATION ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAS FARC DELEGATES LISTENING TO NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEAD FARC NEGOTIATOR, IVAN MARQUEZ, SAYING: "After 28 cycles of persistent work with the government, what we are facing for multiple known reasons, but which is the main counterpart that is required to ach
  • Embargoed: 24th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9GXF1XMV29JMF95FBV4T4XKN2
  • Story Text: Representatives from the Colombian government and FARC rebel group reconvened on Tuesday (September 9) for another round of peace negotiations one day after congresswoman and and FARC kidnap victim Clara Rojas resigned from the negotiations.
    During a news conference in Havana, FARC spokesman Ivan Marquez reiterated the importance of including Colombians in the peace process.

    "After 28 cycles of persistent work with the government, what we are facing for multiple known reasons, but which is the main counterpart that is required to achieve the armistice which is the prelude to reconciliation, we want to reiterate that for us peace is a matter of society as a whole, that it is between all Colombians and Colombians have to build it," said Marquez.
    A statement signed by a FARC leader in the Colombian mountains last week claimed Rojas, who was held for six year by the rebels, didn't have the right to participate as a victim in the peace talks.
    The Colombian government lashed out at the FARC maintaining that Rojas, who became involved with one of her captors and gave birth to a boy in 2004, had every right to participate in the negotiations as a FARC victim.

    "The government's intention has been to preserve the principles of balance and pluralism to the maximum degree: this means that for us it is fitting, for a process that looks to put a definitive end to the conflict, that victims that have participated in it are present here," said lead government negotiator and former vice president Humberto De La Calle.
    Victim compensation is one of two points, along with a framework for ending the 50 year conflict, remaining to be agreed upon by the two factions.
    The second group of victims of the war are expected to arrive on Wednesday (September 10) to take part in the peace talks.

    "Just as we did on August 16 during the first visit we are ready once again to listen, not only putting pen to paper to write down their stories. We will also do this to hear their proposals to help guarantee the materialization of their rights," said De La Calle.
    Rojas, who announced her resignation from the peace talks on Monday (September 8), was taken into FARC custody in 2002 while serving as a campaign manager for presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. The two women were kidnapped while travelling in a demilitarized zone.
    De La Calle said that he believes Rojas, who was freed in 2008, was pressured to resign as a means of protecting the integrity of her family, including the rights of her son.

    "We seriously lament the resignation of the representative Clara Rojas to the peace committee from Congress who has overcome the difficult circumstances that she has lived through, and has invariably supported the peace process. This is an attitude that must be praised. I remain convinced that, as she says, she has been subjected to information that blurs the integrity of a woman and her family and that this situation also affects the rights of her son," he said.
    The two sides have so far reached agreements on three of the five points on the agenda - land reform, the rebels' participation in politics, and withdrawal from the drugs trade during the Havana-based negotiations which have been underway for almost two years.
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