The FARC’s lead negotiator, “Ivan Marquez”, on Tuesday asked the Colombian government to consider a bilateral ceasefire between the rebels and security forces.
The FARC leader made the statement from Havana, Cuba where negotiations between the country’s largest rebel group and the Colombian government have been happening since November 2012.
Marquez’s call for a ceasefire comes after the FARC announced the “lamentable” deaths of 16 Colombian soldiers after an ambush in the southwestern department of Cauca; a claim that was stringently denied by Army General Alejandro Navas on Monday.
MORE: FARC did not kill 16 soldiers in attack: General
The FARC negotiator responded to the army’s denial by claiming the existence of many FARC military operations that the Ministry of Defense “hides” and “silences,” asserting that, “actually there is a very significant confrontation going on in Colombia.”
In the same statement he accused Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon of sabotaging the peace talks, calling him a “sniper working against the peace process.” Marquez also called for a “regularization of the war” to allow the peace talks to develop without interference.
Pinzon responded back claiming the FARC, “invent these fantasies to give off an image of strength that they do not have.”
The Colombian government has so far refused to sign a ceasefire agreement until a long-term peace deal is signed.
The first round of peace talks will reportedly come to an end this week as both parties try to come to an agreement regarding land reform.
MORE: Land reform a flashpoint in peace talks
Sources
- Farc lamenta muerte de militares e insisten en cese al fuego
- Las Farc acusan al ministro de Defensa de ser un “francotirador” del diálogo