If peace talks between Colombia’s government and the country’s largest rebel group FARC stop producing results, the government will abandon the negotiations, President Juan Manuel Santos said Saturday.
“The way we are moving forward we are pleased,” the President said at a public meeting in Santa Barbara, Antioquia. However, “if we make no advances, we will step away from the table. I hope we will continue advancing,” the head of state added.
“What we hope is that we continue advancing in [the Cuban capital of] Havana [where talks are taking place] to come to agreements. And there do sign peace through agreements, not through letters, not through expressions, not through protests but through concrete accords,” Santos said.
Santos responded to a letter published Friday by FARC leader “Timochenko” who accused the government of obstructing peace talks and rejected “the government’s attitude” regarding the return of land allegedly appropriated by late FARC commanders “Manuel Marulanda” and “Mono Jojoy.”
MORE: Colombia govt has obstructed peace process: FARC
While Santos rejected the FARC’s criticism through open letters and websites, the president showed optimism about the peace talks that started in Cuba on November 20 and aim to end the guerrillas’ nearly 50-year-long fight against the state.
NEWS ARCHIVE: Colombia peace talks
Sources
- La paz se salva con acuerdos concretos y no con cartas y pronunciamientos: Presidente Santos (President’s Office)
