The FARC appear to have dropped their demand that the Colombian government agree to a demilitarized zone before discussions on a possible humanitarian exchange take place, opposition senator Piedad Córdoba said Wednesday.
The opposition senator said that in the last two letters she received from guerrilla leader Alfonso Cano, the humanitarian exchange of 22 FARC hostages for 500 imprisoned guerrillas received five mentions, while a condition to demilitarize a zone is left unmentioned.
The FARC have consistently demanded the government withdraw its troops from an area east of Cali as a necessary precursor for exchange talks to take place. The government rejected that idea and said the FARC would use the demilitarized zone for strategic gains.
Córdoba talked to Prosecutor General Mario Iguarán, who she says supports the idea of a humanitarian exchange. Iguarán would be willing to explore the legal possibilities to make the release of guerrillas possible.
The FARC is suspected of holding hundreds of people hostage. Twenty-two of them, all members of the security forces, are part of a group the FARC wants to exchange for approximately 500 guerrillas held in Colombia and the United States.
The Colombian government opposes a humanitarian deal and demands an unconditional release of FARC hostages.
