By Richard McColl
BOGOTA, Colombia
The government’s negotiating team returned to Havana on Tuesday to attempt to revive peace talks with their FARC guerrilla counterparts after negotiations were suspended following the capture of a general.
Prior to leaving for Cuba, Colombia’s chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, emphasized that the moment had come to move from “discussion to action.”
He acknowledged that there were still difficult topics to be addressed in the peace process but said both sides need to demonstrate a commitment to all Colombians.
“If there is a will, it is easier to continue. It is now the time to show Colombians that the end of the conflict is approaching,” he said in a press conference.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be of key importance for any decisions taken regarding the recommencement of the peace dialogues after a two-week suspension of the talks followed the capture of Gen. Rubén Darío Alzate by the rebels.
The talks, which were suspended Nov. 17 by President Juan Manuel Santos, were due to begin their 31st round of negotiations since beginning in November 2012.
Alzate, who was the highest ranking military official to have ever been taken hostage by the FARC and seized under confusing circumstances, resigned from his post Monday afternoon.
“My urgency to work for and love for the people of Choco caused me to not apply the normal security precautions required for my movement in the area,” he said in a press conference, referring to the area where he was kidnapped.
The general was taken while dressed in civilian clothing and without his normal security detail, explained that those actions were designed to “strengthen trust” within the community.
As Santos sends his negotiating team to Havana to “see where the process is,” the FARC has released strongly worded communiqués warning the government that since the suspension of talks, there will now be new issues to take into consideration.
“We must say, that those responsible for suspending the conversations cannot return to the tables with the pretence of imposing the date of their recommencement, as if nothing has happened,” wrote the FARC.
Since talks began two years ago, agreements have been reached on the issues of agrarian reform, political participation and illicit drugs.
The teams were debating the issue of the victims of the conflict at the time the talks were suspended.
The FARC continues to press for a bilateral cease-fire something, a measure to which the government appears to have no intention of agreeing.
Recently the Colombian Minister of Defence Juan Carlos Pinzon recently warned that the guerrillas intend to increase attacks toward the end of the year, before declaring a Christmas truce.
The claim has neither been denied nor confirmed by the FARC.
Jorge Restrepo, Director of the Conflict Analysis Resource Center in Colombia, or Cerac, told El Tiempo newspaper that the intensity of the war will lessen only once the guerrillas demonstrate “a commitment to abandoning” actions such as the recruitment of minors.
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