Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos said Monday he had a “positive” meeting with his top negotiators in the peace talks.
“I met with the negotiation team last night. The balance of the first meeting [was] positive,” tweeted the Colombian head of state.
Anoche me reuní con equipo negociador. Balance de primera reunión positivo. Nadie está pensando en modificar tiempos. Meses y no años.
— Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) December 3, 2012
Santos also confirmed earlier comments that the peace talks with guerrilla group FARC should be concluded in months rather than years.
The Santos administration’s desire to reach an agreement by the end of 2013 distinguishes the current peace talks with previous attempts at peace. The latest major attempt at reaching a peace deal occurred during the presidency of Andres Pastrana (1998-2002). The Pastrana peace process lagged on for years before finally ending in failure in early 2002.
After inaugurating the latest peace process in Norway last October, the first round of talks between the government and FARC began in the Cuban capital of Havana of November 19 and ended ten days later. Talks are expected to resume on December 5.