FARC Registers Candidates for 2018 Legislative Elections

Leaders of Colombia's Revolutionary Alternative Forces of the Commons (FARC) have officially presented their list of 23 candidates for the 2018 legislative elections, they have announced.

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The list handed to the National Electoral Council (CNE) included FARC leaders Iván Márquez, Pablo Catatumbo, Victoria Sandino, Sandra Ramírez, Benkos Biohó and Carlos Antonio Lozada as Senate candidates. Jairo Quintana, Olmedo Ruiz, Jesús Santrich, Marco León Calarcá and Bayron Yepez will run for seats at the National Assembly.

In a statetement, the new political party said the candidacies initiated the "march of hope for those who have always dreamed of a Colombia with no domestic conflict: inclusive, i.e. a true democracy."

In October, the FARC officially registered as a legal political party in order to be legally able to participate in elections.

As for the presidential elections, the party chose Rodrigo Londoño, popularly known as Timochenko and former leader of the guerrilla group, as their candidate.

Both legislative and presidential elections are set for 2018, and the party has said it plans to reach out to ideological allies in a bid to form a coalition without abandoning existing commitments to land reform and social justice.

The FARC is currently facing many obstacles as it attempts to transform from a guerrilla group into a legitimate political party.

Leaders have repeatedly accused Juan Manuel Santos' administration of failing to properly implement the peace accord signed a year ago, while social leaders and FARC members are still being murdered by paramilitary forces across the country.