The U.S. wants to be “part of the solution” for peace in Colombia, said Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson on Thursday.
The assistant secretary tweeted the remark as a press conference was held formally beginning the peace talks between the Colombian government and the country’s largest guerrilla group the FARC.
Re: Colombian peace talks: We want to be a part of the solution. We are doing everything we can to support a real and durable peace.
— Roberta Jacobson (@WHAAsstSecty) October 18, 2012
“We want to be clear that we have overwhelming support for the process. It is a great opportunity and we will give all the backing that is possible,” said the U.S. official according to newspaper El Tiempo.
According to Jacobson this support in principal reinforces that which Washington already gives to Colombia in areas of importance to both parties such as land, human rights and generation of economic opportunities.
The U.S. official reiterated that the aim of the U.S., like the international community, was to support a process that was conducive to lasting peace.
On the issue of Simon Trinidad, who the FARC had called as a negotiator but who is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence in a maximum security prison in the U.S., Jacobson said that neither she nor any other U.S. official would be commenting on details that are part of the negotiations.
The assistant secretary also declined to say if the Colombian government had asked for Trinidad to participate in the talks remotely through video link. “We discuss what we want … but we are still in a very preliminary stage of the talks,” she said.