The supreme leader of the FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group, has called upon his ranks to speed up the ongoing peace process with Colombia’s government before the next round of negotiations.
Rodrigo Londoño , known by his alias “Timochenko”, has been the head of the organization since Colombia’s military killed his predecessor in 2011.
Addressing the public via his Twitter account, Timochenko declared that he expects a “reciprocal gesture from the government delegation after the dialogue it had with President Juan Manuel Santos.”
After a meeting with John Kerry, the Secretary of State of the United States, President Santos expressed enthusiasm to match:
“This is a very welcome move; it is a demonstration that we are on the right track and we must negotiate a bilateral ceasefire as soon as possible.”
Secretary Kerry and President Santos also lauded the idea of suspending military courses in different structures of the FARC organization and replacing them with political education.
In regards to American support in the peace process, Santos reiterated his satisfaction with the dialogue that has been taking place in Havana and the resources that have been allocated by the United States.
Finally, President Santos spoke of the non-extradition of guerrilla members in a potential peace deal:
“We do not talk about it, they understand that I will not extradite FARC members, [otherwise] it would make no sense [for them] to surrender and hand over their weapons.”