CUBA: Lead FARC negotiator Ivan Marquez says government should stop blocking a truce, after victims of the conflict call for bilateral ceasefire

Record ID: 349982

  • Title: CUBA: Lead FARC negotiator Ivan Marquez says government should stop blocking a truce, after victims of the conflict call for bilateral ceasefire
  • Date: 23rd September 2014
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (SEPTEMBER 23, 2014) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF FARC DELEGATION ARRIVING FOR PEACE TALKS BANNER THAT READS: "PEACE TALKS" FARC MEMBERS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEAD FARC NEGOTIATOR IVAN MARQUEZ, SAYING: "Let us advance in the construction of a peace agreement. Stop the treachery and covering the pea
  • Embargoed: 8th October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA2E6J32O6BHVT2ZCMZUM85RXRG
  • Story Text: Delegates from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Tuesday (September 23) said the government should help the peace process by supporting an immediate bilateral ceasefire.
    On September 10, victims from all sides of Colombia's 50-year-old war called on FARC and the government to lay down their arms while continuing the negotiations.
    Lead FARC negotiator Ivan Marquez on Tuesday accused the Colombian government of not allowing a ceasefire to come to fruition.

    "From the beginning of these talks we have shown our will to agree to a truce with the state in order to prevent the further spill of blood, but the negligence of the government is what has led to further battles such as the one in Puerto Libertador and other regions. To deny a bilateral ceasefire demanded by the victims of the conflict with the excuse such truces are used by the FARC to strengthen politics and the military, is a way to re-victimise. It's stubbornness in the midst of a peace process that is advancing and may only cause perplexity," he said.
    The FARC has made several calls for a bilateral ceasefire during peace talks, but President Juan Manuel Santos has rejected them, citing a previous attempt at peace talks from 1999 to 2002 when the FARC used the ceasefire to rearm.
    To date, peace negotiators have reached three partial agreements on their five-point agenda.
    The two sides recently opened talks on fourth point, that of reparations for war victims, and began hearing testimony from those who have lost loved ones or been displaced by a war that has killed more than 200,000 people since 1964.
    The group of 12 currently in Havana represents victims of the rebels, government forces and right-wing paramilitary groups. They include people who have been kidnapped or raped and relatives of people killed or disappeared.
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