The commander-in-chief of the Colombia’s Marxist-inspired FARC on Monday criticized the government for not completing food deliveries to the areas where the rebels are demobilizing.
Rodrigo Londoño, a.k.a “Timochenko”, released a statement on Twitter saying that food has not arrived in various demobilisation zones around Colombia.
“Food has not arrived in various zones for four days, if hunger didn’t defeat us in the war, neither shall it in peace,” said the rebel leader.
Colombia FARC rebels urge government to construct demobilization camps
Furthermore, international news network Telesur reported that much of the food that does arrive is not in a fit state to consume and is rotten.
Other members of the FARC reiterated Timochenko’s frustration at the Colombian government’s failure to honor this task.
Carlos Antonio Lozada, part of the FARC’s peace delegation stated on his Twitter account “They do not release prisoners, they do not complete construction, no food arrives, nor do they allow visits to the zones.”
As part of the peace deal signed by the FARC and the Colombian government, the government authorities must handle logistics in the demobilized zones which includes the delivery of food rations to the demobilized guerrillas.
FARC demobilization delayed as Colombia govt fails to provide basic infrastructure
Colombia’s government has come in for severe criticism for their inability to live up to their part of the agreement whereby suitable demobilization areas would be constructed to facilitate the rebels, a source of major tension between the two sides.
The FARC’s concentration in these transitional zones was initially set for December 31, but was pushed back to January 31 when the government failed to set up the camps where guerrillas are meant to hand in their weapons.
The FARC’s 180-day demobilization and disarmament process is part of a major, 10-year national peace process that seeks to end more than 52 years of violence that has left more than 8 million victims.
The first deadline for the effective disarmament of 30% of the FARC’s members is on March 1, 90 days after the peace deal came into force on December 1.
The guerrillas should be fully disarmed and their explosives removed from jungle caches by April 30. However, the peace agreement allows a 30-day extension in the case this is deemed necessary.
The FARC’s full demobilization, disarmament and reintegration should be completed by May 30, the day the United Nations’ role as observer of the process ends.