A top commander of Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC and the government negotiator who allegedly brokered ongoing peace talks have left the negotiations table, according to news website Las 2 Orillas.
Journalists attending the peace talks were surprised when told that Andres Paris’ e-mail had been suspended and he will no longer be attending negotiations with the government. Paris, the main press contact for Colombian media, was one of the FARC’s main negotiators.
According to Las 2 Orillas, Paris will be returning to the Colombian jungle immediately. The FARC did not immediately confirm or deny the claim when asked by Colombia Reports.
Former High Commissioner for Peace Frank Pearl will also be leaving Havana. said the website. Pearl reportedly is involved in setting up peace talks with the ELN rebel group, which according to Colombia’s second largest guerrilla group have seen minimal progress since being announced in June.
MORE: ELN says negotiations with Colombia govt show ‘minimal’ progress
In a joint communique, the FARC and the government announced that round 30 of the ongoing negotiations will be postponed for four days.
Originally scheduled to start on Monday, October 20, it will now begin four days later on October 24.
A visit from a fourth delegation of victims is also postponed and is now set to take place on November 2.
The two parties said the delay occurred “in order to continue the preparation of the issue of victims.”
Negotiations between the government and FARC have been on-going since 2012. They have recently published preliminary agreements made on combatting illicit crops, political participation for demobilized guerrillas and rural reforms.
The FARC and government are currently discussing the reparation of the conflict victims. So far three victim delegations out of six have travelled to Havana.
The two delegations have been negotiating peace since November 2012.
Sources
- Andrés Paris, el comunicador de las Farc regresa a la selva y Frank Pearl va a la banca (Las 2 Orillas)
- JOINT COMMUNIQUE NO 46 (FARC and the government)