HAVANA (Reuters) – Colombia’s FARC guerrillas pledged yesterday to maintain their unilateral ceasefire despite an attack by the rebels last week that killed 11 government soldiers, saying peace talks with the government should not be broken for any reason.
The Colombian government and Marxist rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been engaged in peace talks in Havana for nearly two and a half years. But the negotiations suffered a setback last week when the FARC apparently broke its unilateral ceasefire, killing 11 soldiers in Colombia’s rural Cauca province.
The FARC also called for unspecified observers to investigate what happened and who was at fault. The rebels previously called the combat a legitimate case of self-defense against encroaching government troops. One rebel was killed and 20 government soldiers were wounded.
The Bogota government saw it as a brazen attack on troops carrying out an anti-drugs operation in southwestern Colombia, the latest breakout of violence in a 50-year-old war that has killed at least 220,000 people and displaced millions.
“We have resolved to declare a unilateral ceasefire to hostilities for an open-ended period that should transition into an armistice,” rebel commander Ivan Marquez told reporters in Havana, while warning the ceasefire could be lifted if the rebels come under attack.
“We must persist in the talks. These cannot be broken for any reason,” Marquez said.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has also pledged to remain at the negotiating table, defying calls from political opponents to suspend the peace talks. But Santos also warned that the country’s patience with the rebels was wearing thin and said the peace process must have a deadline.
