Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday said that time is running out for the completion of peace talks with rebel group FARC.
Since peace negotiations began in Havana in November, only one of the six points on the agenda has been agreed upon: land reform.
“Time is running out. The people want peace and they ask that we move faster,” said President Santos at the opening of an armed forces hospital in Bogota.
MORE: Text of deal between Colombia’s government and rebel group FARC to end armed conflict
This remark by Santos comes after a series of messages by the government yesterday proclaiming the pressing need for Colombia’s congress to approve a law to allow a final peace deal to be voted on by the general public in either March or May 2014 [to coincide with Congressional or Presidential elections]; assuming a deal is reached by this date.
MORE: Colombia’s government stresses necessity for referendum on peace talks
The FARC and the government have been involved in peace talks since November in order to seek a negotiated end to a conflict that has lasted almost 50 years.
While an accord has been reached regarding land reform, no agreements have been made on the issue of the FARC’s political participation, drug trafficking, the practicalities of the end of the armed conflict, and the rights of the victims.
Sources