Peace talks between Colombia’s government and rebel group FARC should not be rushed by upcoming elections in 2014, said one of the guerrillas’ negotiators Saturday.
“We will take the necessary time. We will do it swiftly … but without fatal strokes,” FARC negotiator Marco Leon Calarca told newscast Noticias Uno from Cuba where the peace talks are held.
According Calarca, the government’s rush to bring the peace talks to an end is to serve the electoral ambitions of those involved.
“Unfortunately, the process of peace construction can not be tied to electoral issues and even less to the personal ambitions of one or the other,” the senior rebel said.
“We’re not even talking about an electoral reform which must guarantee transparent elections,” the senior rebel added.
The FARC and a team of government negotiators begun peace talks in November and were given a year to successfully negotiate an end to Colombia’s 50-year armed conflict by President Juan Manuel Santos.
Colombia will take to the polls twice in 2014; In March congressional elections are held, followed by presidential elections in May.
Sources
- Las Farc dicen que no se debe presionar la agenda (Noticias Uno)