The Government of Gustavo Petro and the Second Marquetalia – a FARC dissident made up of former guerrillas who abandoned the 2016 agreement – sat at the table with the same objective: peace in Colombia, to which they hope to contribute to the negotiation process that began this Monday in Caracas, where the first cycle is taking place.
(See here: Government and FARC dissidents begin first round of peace negotiations)
Until June 29, they plan “define the negotiation protocols and announce the first decisions on measures” for “contribute to advancing the de-escalation of the conflict”, according to a joint statement.
The dialogue began a day after “the life of the insurgent commander Hermes Guerrero, belonging to the Second Marquetalia, has been taken”according to the parties, who regretted the fact and recognized that “the success” The process will also depend on the will of “refrain from actions that undermine mutual trust.”
In this sense, they committed to “agree, as a priority, on the necessary measures to guarantee the life and safety of those participating in the process and of the communities in general,” and they made a call to the Andean country and the international community to trust.
(Follow here: Drones with explosives, the new weapon used by FARC dissidents in Colombia)
The dialogue has Venezuela, Cuba and Norway as guarantor countries, and with the support of the UN and the Episcopal Conference of Colombia.
On behalf of the Colombian Government, its chief negotiator in this process, Armando Novoa, expressed the willingness to “reach the necessary agreements” for, “early” give to the country “good results”.
The former magistrate of the National Electoral Council (CNE) called to include the communities and their authorities in the dialogue for peace, which, in his opinion, “it is built in the regions, with the actors of the conflict and with participation” of the citizen.
For his part, the chief negotiator of the Second Marquetalia delegation, ‘Walter Mendoza’, He indicated that they hope to reach an agreement “without any entrapment”, and what was subscribed “is fulfilled entirely by the State.”
(Read here: The power is in the EMC, a Farc dissident to which Petro declared a ‘total offensive’)
He also expressed the group’s desire to have guarantees that allow it “continue doing politics, without weapons.”
At his side was Luciano Marín Arango, alias ‘Iván Márquez’, leader of the Second Marquetalia, who hopes that the peace process be built “from the territories with their inhabitants, their communities and organizational processes, but articulated, at the same time, with solutions to national problems.”
“Every effort must be made to creatively explore all possible options to achieve the common purpose of leading the country along the path of building peace”said ‘Iván Márquez’, who hopes to meet “on that path with the sister organization ELN (National Liberation Army)”, with which the Colombian Government also carries out a negotiation process.
In the opinion of ‘Ivan Marquez’, the strategy of the Government of former President Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) of “negotiating with the FARC-EP and relegating the process with the ELN’s guerrilla sister to the background was a mistake,” while that of Iván Duque (2018-2022) “received a country with a signed agreement” and “an ongoing peace process with the ELN, and delivered another with exacerbated violence and armed confrontation.”
With respect to the Executive of Gustavo Petro, the Second Marquetalia recognizes its “honest efforts to bring about basic change amidst fierce opposition never seen before in the country’s political history.”
For his part, Novoa pointed out that “none of these (armed) conflicts arose from the installation” of the current Colombian Government, but “They were inherited from the precarious and regrettable circumstances in which the country was left, among other reasons, due to improper implementation of the 2016 peace agreement.”
Therefore, he added, the discussion now “it is not the content of the agreement”, but “the lack of implementation of its contents.”
The dialogue resumed after the approval of the ‘total peace law’ in the Andean nation, which aims to allow renegotiation for those who left the agreement.
EFE
