Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has said the FARC guerrilla group must release all hostages before the government will consider peace talks.
The head of state told Noticias Radio that the FARC must release 11 people who the guerrillas are currently demanding be exchanged for jailed members.
Santos said, “They must be released without any conditions. This would be a first demonstration – I want to see that they have a genuine will. Colombians do not want to be deceived again because we have been deceived many times.”
The FARC told the newly-founded Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Friday that it was willing to “a fully-guaranteed dialogue in front of the country, the continent and the world” in order to “model an institutional and political re-composition.”
The message was rejected by Santos on Saturday when speaking before the CELAC, who said while both the government and the Colombian population were tired of violence, he required guarantees that FARC was serious before peace talks could be opened.