The FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group, suggested postponing its demobilization, citing the Colombian government’s continued inability to prepare the camps where guerrillas should demobilize and disarm.
Rodrigo Londoño, a.k.a. Timochenko, took to Twitter to express his frustration with the state of the camps, or ZVTN sites, where the guerrillas are meant to hand in their weapons.
“If the government does not immediately install the necessary infrastructure, we will need to rethink the arrival date of the FARC to the transitional zones,” he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/TimoFARC/status/824291225914068993
Londoño proceeded to defend the FARC’s compliance with the peace deal and outline the issues with the camps.
1/3 Mientras las @FARC_EPueblo estamos cumpliendo rigurosamente lo acordado, el gobierno no lleva infraestructura a las #ZonasVeredales
— Rodrigo Londoño (@TimoFARC) January 25, 2017
“While the FARC are rigorously complying with what was agreed, the government does not bring infrastructure to the transition zones,” the demobilizing guerrilla chief said.
2/3 En las ZVTN de:
-Playa Rica (La Y) no hay agua
-Colinas Guaviare no hay agua ni conexiones de cañería
-Carmelitas no hay nada construido— Rodrigo Londoño (@TimoFARC) January 25, 2017
“In the camps of: Playa Rica there is no water; in Colinas Guaviare there is no water nor piping connections; in Carmelitas nothing is built,” added Londoño.
3/3 En las ZVTN de:
-Carrizal no hay nada construido
-El Carmen no hay nada construido
-Vidri-Chocó esta construida menos del 10%— Rodrigo Londoño (@TimoFARC) January 25, 2017
“In the camps of: Carrizal nothing is built; in El Carmen nothing is built; in Vidri-Choco less than 10% is built,” the FARC’s supreme leader said.
The manager of the transition zones, Carlos Cordoba, pushed back on Londoño’s assertions.
“The national government has been complying with the equipment, has been complying with the construction of the camps…and we offer all the collaboration [needed] to comply with the January 31 target for the FARC to be in the [transition] zones,” he said, according to local media.
He further guaranteed that by January 31 the camps would have “either finished or significantly improved common areas, and in all [of them the FARC] will find material to begin building their accommodations, and of course the technical assistance from the firms that the government has hired to support this process,” according to Radio Santa Fe.
The FARC’s concentration in these transitional zones was initially set for December 31, but was pushed back to January 31 when the government failed to set up the camps where guerrillas are meant to hand in their weapons.
FARC demobilization delayed as Colombia govt fails to provide basic infrastructure
The FARC’s 180-day demobilization and disarmament process is part of a major, 10-year national peace process that seeks to end more than 52 years of violence that has left more than 8 million victims.
The first deadline for the effective disarmament of 30% of the FARC’s members is on March 1, 90 days after the peace deal came into force on December 1.
The guerrillas should be fully disarmed and their explosives removed from jungle caches by April 30. However, the peace agreement allows a 30-day extension in the case this is deemed necessary.
The FARC’s full demobilization, disarmament and reintegration should be completed by May 30, the day the United Nations’ role as observer of the process ends.
The controversy surrounding the readiness of the transitional zones, together with the proposed freeze on the peace process due to the delayed surrender of child soldiers from FARC ranks has Colombia’s peace in an especially fragile state.
