The Colombian government’s lead negotiator in peace talks with rebel group FARC on Thursday decried the “verbal civil war” initiated by vehement opponents of the peace process.
“Sometimes it seems as if what is unfolding here, on our [Colombia’s] side [of the peace talks], is a new war, a kind of verbal civil war, which is completely inappropriate,” said Humberto De la Calle, the Colombian government’s lead negotiator.
While De la Calle stated said that it was perfectly reasonable for people to express their opposition with the negotiations, he criticized the divisive rhetoric used by those most vehemently opposed to peace talks.
“There are Colombians who do not want a dialogue with the FARC, and to us that seems absolutely reasonable; there are Colombians who face a dilemma between peace and justice. They do not want impunity, they want varying degrees of severity and this is also right,” said the negotiator. “In a democracy we have to be able to resolve the differences that exist on our side of the table.”
The peace talks were scheduled to resume in Havana on April, 17, however they have been postponed until Monday, April, 23.
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