Colombian rebels welcome peace talks "without hatred"

Timoleon Jimenez, rebel commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is seen in this still image taken from video released on an internet web page on September 3, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Farc Video/Handout

By Helen Murphy

BOGOTA | Tue Sep 4, 2012 2:50am IST

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC rebel leader said on Monday the group would join peace talks with the government "without hatred or arrogance" in its first response to President Juan Manuel Santos' announcement of imminent negotiations.

The prospect of talks, likely to take place in Norway and Cuba, has raised Colombians' hopes of an end to five decades of bloodshed - though past governments' failures to end Latin America's longest-running insurgency show the path is not easy.

In a video posted on the Internet on Monday that swung from serious to mocking, a group of uniformed FARC rebels acknowledged the possible negotiations by singing and playing the bongos - but they also ridiculed Santos.

The group's leader Rodrigo Londono, known by his war alias as Timochenko, is edited onto the introduction of the song, telling the rebels: "We join the negotiating table without hatred or arrogance."

In office since 2010, the conservative Santos last week announced his government had taken part in "exploratory talks" with the leftist FARC - which stands for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - that may lead to formal negotiations.

He said the nation's second-biggest rebel group, the National Liberation Army or ELN, could also be involved.

In Monday's video, the FARC men and women sang, danced and played the guitar in an unidentified clearing, surrounded by trees and fence posts. Some were dressed in olive-green uniform and others in black T-shirts and berets depicting Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

"I'm off to Havana, this time to talk to he who accuses us of lying about peace, that bourgeois who tries but can't crush us," they sang in the video, which can be seen at: here

"That pedantic Chucky Santos who finds the need to ask (former Cuban leader) Fidel Castro to help with the FARC," they added, in reference to the murderous doll Chucky in the movie franchise "Child's Play."

Around Colombia, there has been cautious optimism since Santos' announcement, with many praising it as a bold move that would help bring further economic prosperity to the Andean nation and free rural areas from the fear of constant attacks.

Some, though, have dissented from that general mood. Most notably, former President Alvaro Uribe and his backers have slammed the move as pandering to "terrorists."

Timochenko's message was received positively by analysts, who recall the FARC as arrogant in the previous attempt at peace that took place in the southern area known as El Caguan and ended in failure in 2002.

"This is a very important message and dramatically different to the stance in Caguan," Caracol Radio cited Angela Maria Robledo, member of Congress' peace commission as saying.

Carlos Lozano, a member of peace advocacy group Colombians for Peace, said the message shows a "clear commitment by the FARC".

TALKS ABROAD

While it is not known if the entire seven-member leadership of the FARC is in agreement with the peace talks, the so-called secretariat takes decisions by majority.

Still, an intelligence source told Reuters that there is discontent among some of the commanders in the powerful southern areas of the group's structure, where much of the cocaine production takes place.

At the mid-point of his four-year term, Santos may reveal more details in the coming days. Another source told Reuters talks are likely to start in Norway then move to Cuba.

Santos, who has said military operations would continue while discussions are under way, has agreed that FARC leaders would not be extradited to a second nation to stand trial, according to the source who asked not to be identified.

As evidence of ongoing military operations, seven FARC fighters were killed on Monday and another five captured during an air raid in central Meta province, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said.

"This is an important message that shows the will of the armed forces to work tirelessly against any organization that attacks the Colombian people," Pinzon told reporters.

The drug-funded rebels have been hit hard in recent years by a U.S.-backed Colombian army offensive that has weakened their ranks and hobbled their communication system.

Still, the FARC is able to launch repeated attacks on economic infrastructure and military targets.

Santos had been facing severe criticism over a perception that security was deteriorating amid repeated FARC attacks on oil and mining installations.

While extremely risky, a successful peace agreement with the FARC would secure a place in history for Santos as the only leader to end a war that has killed tens of thousands over the years and sullied the South American nation's reputation.

Santos' approval rating, which slipped to 48 percent in June, moved up again to 51 percent last week in the latest survey by Gallup conducted amid rumors talks were starting.

A previous attempt at peace under former President Andres Pastrana resulted in the FARC using the ceasefire to rebuild its military operations and establish a multi-billion dollar drug-trafficking network. (Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Cynthia Osterman)

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Colombian government seeking peace with FARC rebels

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) members wait to escort Colombian civilian helicopter pilots Juan Carlos Alvarez and Alejandro de Jesus Ocampo in Puerto Rico, Cauca Province July 29, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer/Files

By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA | Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:30am IST

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government is seeking peace with the country's biggest rebel group, the FARC, and could consider also holding talks with a second guerrilla movement to end five decades of war, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday.

In a televised address from the presidential palace, Santos said his government would learn from the mistakes of so many previous leaders who tried but failed to clinch a lasting ceasefire with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

"Since the first day of my government I have completed my constitutional obligation to find peace. With that aim, we have had exploratory conversations with the FARC to seek an end to the conflict," he said, confirming weeks of swirling rumors that his government had started behind-the-scenes discussions.

He added that the military would continue its operations "throughout every centimeter" of Colombia while talks continued.

Santos did not provide further details, but said he would reveal more about the talks in the coming days.

A successful peace agreement with the rebels would secure him a place in history as the leader who ended a conflict that has killed tens of thousands over the years and left the Andean nation's reputation in tatters.

In response to a Reuters interview published on Monday with the head of the nation's second biggest rebel group, Santos said the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN, could also be involved in the peace talks.

"Today the ELN has expressed, via an international news agency, its interest in participating in conversations to put an end to the violence," the president said in his brief speech.

"I tell that group that, within the same framework, they too can be part of the effort to end the conflict."

A Colombian intelligence source told Reuters earlier that as part of the deal to hold talks, Santos had agreed FARC rebels would not be extradited to any other country to stand trial.

Details are still being worked out, the source said, but the negotiations could take place in Cuba or Norway. U.S. President Barack Obama is aware of the process and is in agreement, the source said.

Santos, who is at the mid-point of his four-year term, has said he would consider peace talks with the FARC only if he was certain the drug-funded group would negotiate in good faith.

SANTOS FOCUSED

The last peace effort ended in shambles.

In 1988 former President Andres Pastrana ceded the FARC a safe haven the size of Switzerland to promote talks. The rebels took advantage of the breathing space to train fighters, build more than 25 airstrips to fly drug shipments, and set up prison camps to hold its hostages.

News of the latest peace effort was met with guarded hope among Colombians.

"Honestly, full peace is probably never possible. Of course it would be good ... but really, an end to the war? I think an end to the world will happen first," said Maria Eugenia Martinez as she sold cigarettes in an upscale Bogota neighborhood.

Santos discussed the peace process during talks in Havana with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro before the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia earlier this year, the intelligence source said.

Colombia's congress passed a constitutional reform in June that set the legal basis for eventual peace with the rebels. The reform prohibits guerrilla leaders accused of crimes against humanity from holding political office.

In a recent interview with Reuters, Santos said he would only start a peace process "with a high probability of success. I would not start a process to fail."

VIOLENCE CONTINUES

News of the talks had already angered Santos' predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, who has slammed Santos for wanting "peace at any cost" and allowing the rebels to rearm and regroup.

Santos, a former defense minister, won election in 2010 by a landslide, pledging to cut unemployment and continue Uribe's hard line security policies, while fostering economic growth and reducing poverty.

While much of the world struggles to shore up fiscal accounts, Colombia's financial management, buoyant economy and security advances have helped shield its economy from too much fallout from the international financial crisis.

Once an outcast for most foreign companies, the Andean nation has become a magnet for investment as a U.S.-backed offensive against the FARC sharply reduced the number of kidnappings and murders. The nation was rewarded last year with an investment grade from three major credit-rating agencies.

But the 61-year-old Santos has seen his own ratings slide in recent weeks amid criticism that he had allowed rebels to chip away at the security gains of the last decade.

Attacks on oil industry installations have jumped 40 percent over the last year, while violent clashes between troops and indigenous protesters led to withering criticism of Santos for not protecting the soldiers.

Six people were killed, including two children, in a FARC bomb attack in central Meta province on Sunday.

The FARC, which calls itself "the people's army" defending peasant rights, has battled about a dozen governments since appearing in 1964, when its founder, Manuel Marulanda, and 48 rebels fought off thousands of troops in jungle hide-outs.

The group has faced its biggest set-backs in recent years as U.S.-trained special forces use sophisticated technology and spy networks to track the leaders.

A string of defeats began in 2008 with a cross-border military raid into Ecuador that killed its second in command. Marulanda died of a heart attack weeks later and was replaced by Alfonso Cano, who was later killed too.

(Additional reporting by Katherine Mckeon in Bogota; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Christopher Wilson)

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.