Colombian rebel group, government report modest gain in peace talks
Iran Press TV
Fri Oct 4, 2013 11:51AM GMT
Colombia's main leftist rebel group FARC has announced 'modest progress' in its peace negotiations with the nation's US-backed government.
Following the resumption of a fresh round of talks in Cuban capital of Havana on Thursday, chief negotiator of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Ivan Marquez, stated that the agreements reached so far with the Bogota government amount to a 25-page document.
The deals reportedly include an agreement on land reforms, a central concern for the Colombian rebels, who have engaged in their armed struggle against the government since the 1960s in rural regions of the Latin American nation.
Marquez, however, cautioned that Bogota is responsible for 'agenda changes' that have hampered the peace negotiations.
'Delays have happened due to changes on the discussion topics. This is not FARC's fault and they cannot criticize us for that,' said the rebel leader.
The peace agenda agreed by the Colombian rebels and the nation's government consists of six key points -- land reform, political participation, disarmament, illicit drugs, rights of the victims and peace deal implementation.
There has only been a partial agreement at the Havana talks on the land reform issue.
Meanwhile, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said he wants to reach a final pact by the end of this year, with the FARC guerillas agreeing to give up their arms in order to join the nation's political process.
The government says it is ready to reintegrate thousands of demobilized FARC fighters into society.
Nearly 220,000 people have been killed in the Latin American nation during five decades of armed struggle, according to a study by Colombia's National Center for Historical Memory.
Hundreds of thousands more have been displaced by the country's violence.
MFB/KA
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