A Colombian General on Wednesday called the FARC’s Christmas truce a “farce.”
“Since the supposed truce was declared [by the FARC on November 20] three soldiers have been killed, including one sergeant, and 13 have been wounded…eight by explosives and the other five by rifle fire,” the commander of the National Army, General Sergio Mantilla, on Wednesday told newspaper El Espectador.
The FARC acknowledged accidentally breaking the truce in late November, but they have vehemently denied allegations from Mantilla and other officials regarding attacks in the Cauca department.
The rebels announced a unilateral ceasefire on the first day of peace negotiations with the Colombian government. “Ivan Marquez,” the leader of the FARC delegation in Cuba, said “the cessation of all combat operations against Colombian security forces, and acts of sabotage against public or private infrastructure” will last until January 20, 2013.
The Colombian government has repeatedly insisted that it will not halt military operations. In previous peace attempts with Colombia’s largest and longest-standing guerrilla force, the government had honored a ceasefire and even agreed to a demilitarized zone. During the administration of Andres Pastrana [1998 to 2002] the FARC took advantage of the DMZ and used it to traffic arms and narcotics.
Peace talks between the Colombian government and FARC resumed last week in Havana, Cuba.