Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday said that a peace accord between the government and the country’s largest rebel group, FARC, could be signed “before the end of the year.”
“We are optimistic that, if we keep on like we have, we will reach peace in this country. If God [wants] before the end of the year, if things [continue] like they have.”
Santos said there had already been written agreements between the rebels and the government on the sensitive issue of land reform. However, the president did rule out any possibility of entering into a bilateral truce, as the FARC had been pushing for.
MORE: FARC call for bilateral ceasefire with Colombian security forces
Meanwhile, leading FARC negotiator “Ivan Marquez” the government and accused the country’s defense ministry of wanting to “shoot” the peace process.
“I do not know which function the Santos government has given to this war minister [Juan Carlos Pinzon], it seems the mission he has been assigned … is to shoot like a sniper against the efforts of peace.”
The FARC rebel’s comments came after defense minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said it was “absurd not to think the FARC are drug traffickers” after the rebels denied that four tons of cocaine found in the southwestern Cauca department belonged to them.
MORE: 4 tons of cocaine isn’t ours: FARC
Sources
- Mensajes positivos en proceso de paz (El Espectador)