Former president Alvaro Uribe on Sunday urged the Colombian government not to rush ongoing peace talks with FARC rebels and avoid harmful agreements with what he considers “a narco-terrorist group.”

Uribe, now the lead Senator for the hard-line Democratic Center party, said so in a letter to the inspector general.

Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez had invited him to secure the representation of his party in a commission that is set to accompany President Juan Manuel Santos in the “final phase” of peace talks with the country’s longest-living rebel group.

Increasing pressure on Uribe to join Colombia peace talks efforts

Profiles Alvaro Uribe Alejandro Ordoñez Juan Manuel Santos FARC Fact sheet Peace talks

The former president politely ignored the invitation and used his public response to reiterate his party’s concerns over the talks that began in November 2012.

Uribe has been a fierce critic of the peace talks since they began.

Additionally, he has been embroiled in a bitter political struggle with Santos, his former defense minister.

“From the beginning of this government we have presented our concerns over the deterioration of security, which among its causes has the abandonment of presidential commitment, the demoralization of the armed forces and the lack of confidence of the population,” said Uribe.

According to the former president, the peace talks would have better results if Santos “prolongs the period of conversations, as much as necessary.”

However, to not exhaust the patience of Colombians who have lived in war for the past 50 years, Uribe insisted that the FARC impose “a unilateral cease of all criminal terrorism activities.”

The FARC called a unilateral ceasefire in December, but has according to Uribe continued criminal activity like extortion and drug trafficking to fund the group’s suspended war apparatus.

Santos last week announced the first suspension of air strikes against the FARC in response to the FARC’s ceasefire, a rebel announcement to end child recruitment and an agreement to jointly begin with the clearing of landmines.

The armed conflict Causes Inequality Political exclusion Weak, corrupt state Violence aggravators Drug trafficking International actors

A commission of top military commanders in the meantime has been negotiating a bilateral ceasefire.

However, according to Uribe and his political supporters, the FARC is not a political insurgency but a narco-terrorist organization and has only been strengthened by military leniency.

Suspension of bombings permits FARC criminal activity: Uribe

The Democratic Center has long claimed that the peace talks unjustly legitimize the FARC as a political actor while undermining justice for the thousands of war crimes committed by the rebels in their 50 years of existence.

By negotiating with terrorists, Santos has compromised the legitimacy of the state and the armed forces, also accused of thousands of war crimes, according to Uribe.

Is Santos’ suspension of air strikes on the FARC violating Colombia’s constitution?

Rather than to take part in the presidential commission to advance the talks, Uribe announced that his party will create its own peace commission that will be in touch with conservative members of the presidential commission, the international community and independent advisers to the talks like former UN chief Kofi Annan.

Uribe, whose father was killed by the FARC, was president between 2002 and 2010 and widely recognized for leading a US-supported military campaign that severely weakened the FARC and boosted the Colombian economy.

However, millions of Colombians were displaced in the process and Uribe’s reputation has been stained by numerous human rights violations and corruption scandals that happened under his watch.

The former president and his brother are investigated for their role in the creation of right-wing paramilitary groups. Uribe’s cousin is one of dozens of former congressmen who were sentenced for aligning with the paramilitary AUC.