Dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) — a guerrilla group in Colombia, have announced a temporary truce in the country. According to the peace commissioner on Saturday (December 24), the group of armed renegades declared a unilateral ceasefire until the new year, news agency AFP reported on Sunday.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Saturday that other FARC dissidents as well as paramilitaries in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the north, and gangs in the port of Buenaventura, the most important port on the Pacific, also declared a ceasefire. Taking to Twitter, President Petro said, “We hope that real peace processes will be consolidated.”
Saturday’s development comes days after the rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) ended the forced confinement of around 10,000 people in the northwest of Colombia.
The ELN is in peace negotiations with the government. It is the last recognised rebel group operating in Colombia, although dissidents who refused to sign a 2016 peace deal between the FARC and the government also remain active, AFP reported on Wednesday. The rebel group has around 2,500 fighters and a wide network of collaborators, independent estimates show.
After becoming the country’s first leftist President in August this year, Gustavo Petro vowed to negotiate with all armed groups as a part of his “total peace” policy. At present, there are around 90 political and criminal groups operating in Colombia.
For over five decades, Colombia has suffered an armed conflict between the state and groups of left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug traffickers.
In November, talks had resumed with ELN in Venezuela for the first time in three years, when President Petro’s predecessor Ivan Duque broke off negotiations following a car bomb attack on a police academy in which 22 people were killed. The initial talks had not resulted in a formal ceasefire agreement.
Source: Wio News