COLOMBIA-REBELS/PEACE PROCESS After release of general, Colombia warms to reopening peace talks

Record ID: 349997

  • Title: COLOMBIA-REBELS/PEACE PROCESS After release of general, Colombia warms to reopening peace talks
  • Date: 1st December 2014
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (RECENT) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT AND FARC DELEGATIONS ARRIVING AT NEGOTIATIONS
  • Embargoed: 16th December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA94E14APFUD71ROJQT4XNSNHYE
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3 MATERIAL
    Peace talks in Colombia appear to be getting back on track Sunday (November 30) as Bogota's chief negotiator spelled out areas in which the central government and rebels are already working together as well as their further plans to rejoin forces.
    Peace talks, however, have yet to be formally relaunched.
    The cooperation comes after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) freed an army general and two other captives on Sunday (November 30).
    President Juan Manuel Santos halted the talks two weeks ago after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) seized five hostages, including General Ruben Dario Alzate.
    Santos insisted there would be no more negotiations until all five hostages were freed.
    The rebels released two soldiers last week and the other three - Alzate, a soldier and a civilian lawyer - were set free on Sunday in a jungle area of Choco province on Colombia's Pacific coast. The government said they were in good health.
    "Members of the peace talks representing the FARC, with the authority of the government, came to Colombia today for the liberation that took place in Arauca and Choco, with the purpose of guaranteeing the operation, the security of the people, their life, with the objective of facilitating and ensuring success, which has occurred after a complex process that has played out over the past few days," the government's chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle said late on Sunday.
    In a statement, Santos, for his part, referred to a "favourable climate" for continuing the talks.
    "Part of the government delegation will travel tomorrow to Havana, Cuba, to have a two-day meeting, as will part of the FARC delegation. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss, apart from the issue of guarantees, the recent events that the public now knows about," de la Calle said.
    Confirming the hostages' release, the FARC's team in Havana reiterated its demand for a ceasefire during peace talks, a request Santos has repeatedly said is out of the question.
    The FARC said the two sides need "to redesign the rules of the game" without clarifying what that meant. FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, known as "Timochenko", said Santos violated an agreement governing the talks by bringing them to a halt.
    At the talks in Havana, the government and the FARC have reached partial agreement on land reform, ending the illegal drugs trade and political participation for demobilized rebels.
    Around 200,000 people have been killed in Colombia's 50-year conflict. The last peace effort ended in a shambles in 2002 when the FARC used a demilitarized zone to expand its fighting force and take hostages.
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