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News > Latin America

FARC Closer to Becoming a Legal Political Movement

  • Luciano Marín Arango, head of the FARC delegation in Havana

    Luciano Marín Arango, head of the FARC delegation in Havana | Photo: Hispantv

Published 17 September 2015
Opinion

The rebel group is positive about the pace of negotiations, however they have concerns about how the government plans to implement the agreements.

Colombia’s largest guerrilla group said Thursday it was ready to “address and discuss” the steps that will convert the group into a legal political movement.

“On reintegrating into civilian life, we are ready to address and discuss the procedures for the conversion of the armed organization into an openly political movement,” the group said in a statement.

As the 41st cycle of negotiations of the peace process initiated in 2012 in Havana ended, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said they submitted a package of basic proposals to the government on this issue, and were awaiting feedback.

The head of the FARC delegation Luciano Marin Arango, aka “Ivan Marquez,” added that they were still negotiating in Havana and “making progress” over a consensus for a bilateral cease-fire. The FARC had announced on July 20 a month-long unilateral cease-fire and then renewed it on Aug. 20 indefinitely while the Colombian armed forces are still attacking the guerrila's positions.

Both sides are also “close to reaching an agreement” upon the “decisive” point of justice, which will enable the two sides to finally close the negotiations on victims' reparations, a component that has been discussed for over a year.

RELATED: Colombian Peace Process Timeline

However, the guerrilla leader warned that peace would only have a future in Colombia if the phenomenon of paramilitarism was “urgently” clarified and dismantled, “because with a dirty war the agreement would consist in a lie.”

The government introduced Tuesday a “constitutional reform for peace,” seeking to create the legal framework that would allow the implementation of the agreements reached since 2012. However the FARC strongly criticized the move, as they repeated their demand to complete this process via a Constituent Assembly, involving greater citizen participation.

The government maintained its position, saying on Wednesday that this was “the government's decision” and that it already had a rather large consensus in Congress. As for the FARC, it pointed out that the consensus did not include the rebels. “Uniteralism and imposition lead to failure,” warned the FARC delegation.

The 42nd cycle of the peace process will take place in Havana between Sept. 28 and Oct. 8. 

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