The United States said Tuesday it “welcomes” intentions by Colombia’s government and largest rebel group FARC to begin peace talks.
According to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing that “we would, of course, welcome any efforts to end the hemisphere’s longest-running conflict and to bring about lasting peace in Colombia.”
Nuland said the U.S. has been “a very strong and unwavering partner of Colombia and its people in this struggle, ” adding that “we hope that its citizens will find peace and security.”
The spokeswoman for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not consider the peace talks show that the past military approach — which was backed by the U.S. — failed.
“In any kind of a conflict, one always hopes that there’s a moment when one can get to the peace table, so we defer to the Colombian Government on whether – on how it wants to proceed. But obviously, we’ve been partners in trying to bring peace for a long, long time, and that’s what we hope out of any process in this regard,” said Nuland.
