Good progress made in talks with FARC: Colombia
Iran Press TV
Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:2PM GMT
The Colombian government says good progress has been made in peace talks with leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
'The negotiations are moving ahead well and we should make use of this dynamic,' Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in comments printed in the Spanish El Pais newspaper on Sunday.
Santos stressed that he is against stopping the talks, adding, 'I don't see any reason for that.'
'I can imagine that FARC representatives will one day sit in parliament as legislators,' the Colombian president told the Spanish daily, adding, 'That is the goal of the peace process. The rebels lay down their weapons, but remain true to their ideals.'
He further noted that the Colombian government and the leftist rebels have agreed that the FARC needs to stop its cocaine production.
'There will be an agreement, that the drug smuggling and production of cocaine in Colombia will have to disappear,' said Santos, adding, 'Just think about what that means. Colombia will practically disappear overnight from its role as the world's biggest cocaine producer.'
Colombia's government and the FARC have been engaged in peace talks in the Cuban capital Havana since late 2012 to resolve a decades-long armed conflict.
In May last year, the government and the FARC agreed upon how to approach land reform and rural development, which was the first and the most controversial item on a five-point agenda.
Four other issues--still unresolved--are the FARC's participation in politics, an end to alleged drug trafficking, turning over arms, and compensating the victims of the insurgency.
The FARC is Latin America's oldest insurgent group and has been fighting the government since 1964.
Bogota estimates that 600,000 people have been killed and more than 4.5 million others have been displaced due to the fighting.
The rebel organization is thought to have around 8,000 fighters operating across a large swathe of the eastern jungles of the Andean nation.
IA/MAM/AS
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
