Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday called to intensify military actions against Colombia’s largest armed group FARC after an attack that killed seven police and wounded five.
The president condemned the attacks allegedly carried out by the FARC and former their former rivals, neo-paramilitary group “Los Urabeños” in two tweets calling them cowardly, and stating that he had ordered the military forces to intensify the ongoing offensive against the rebels that have been violently opposing the state since 1964.
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He ordenado al @GeneralPalomino desplazarse a la zona y a los comandantes de las Fuerzas Militares arreciar la ofensiva contra las Farc.
— Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) September 16, 2014
Soon afterwards the FARC released a tweet stating “If guerrillas are murdered by the state, the government gets euphoric. While, when soldiers die we insist” on an immediate bilateral ceasefire.
Si guerrilleros son asesinados x Estado, gobierno se pone eufórico. En cambio, mueren soldados y nosotros insistimos #cesealfuegobilateralYA
— Diálogos Paz FARC (@FARC_EPaz) September 17, 2014
Santos has on multiple occasions denounced a bilateral ceasefire until the end of ongoing peace talks with Latin America’s longest-living rebel group.
However, as the talks that began in 2012 progress, a military commission is negotiating with the rebels on how a bilateral ceasefire and the subsequent disarmament of the FARC’s approximately 8,000 fighters will take place in the event the government and rebels agree to signing a peace accord.