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Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the creation of a permanent delegation of government negotiators at the country's peace talks in Havana, Cuba, saying “we will not rise” until a final peace deal is reached.
Santos made the announcement at the end of the first day of meetings in Cartagena Thursday, where representatives from the government and the peace talks are meeting to discuss details of the final peace deal, scheduled to be signed March 23.
IN DEPTH: Colombia Peace Process Explained
The government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) will meet again Jan. 12 to begin the next round of peace talks after a short break over the holidays. According to Santos, the two sides will not take any breaks in the negotiation process until a final peace deal is reached. Typically the negotiations have been broken up into smaller rounds, with short breaks allotted between them.
Santos' announcement echoes that from Humberto de la Calle, the government's lead negotiator, who suggested Tuesday that the self-imposed deadline for a final peace deal was still viable and that the negotiating parties would work “without pause until a peace deal is signed.”
“Many issues remain to be clarified, resolved and planned, which is the aim [of these meetings] is to analyze well the different steps to reach as soon as possible to end the conflict,” Santos said after the first day of meetings Thursday.
Among some of the things discussed was the implementation of extra security measures after a deal is reached and the FARC lay down their arms, particularly in areas where the guerrillas will be concentrated, said Santos.
The president added that the peace deal is far from perfect, “Because no peace agreement in history has been a perfect deal,” adding, “What it is certain is that this agreement we have reached is the best transitional justice deal ever negotiated.”
Santos is expected to make another formal address following the second and last day of the Cartagena talks Friday.
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