Uribe releases ‘FARC demands’ to ‘resume Colombia peace talks’

Former President Alvaro Uribe on Sunday published a number of alleged FARC demands to “de-escalate the conflict” that include FARC control over certain areas and an end of aerial bombardments of guerrilla units and camps.

Uribe, who previously published classified information from within the peace talks, said the eight FARC demands he published on Twitter were from rebel negotiation leader “Ivan Marquez.”

According to the president, he checked the veracity of the eight demands that “have been circulating” after the publication of these demands by Uribe-loyal journalist William Calderon.

 

 

The FARC proposals for the ‘de-escalation of the conflict’ according to Uribe

  1. The government must commit itself to stop denominating the FARC as “terrorists.”
  2. The military must suspend all aerial bombardments.
  3. The military must end carrying out operations aimed at “high value targets.”
  4. Diminish the number of mobile brigades and land combat units.
  5. The properties of any of the FARC’s members can not be subject to expropriation.
  6. In the case of a positive end to the peace process, the government must commit itself to
    A.   Maintain guerrilla fighters with a $900 subsidy for five years while they are prepared professionally and adapt to civilian life.
    B.   Maintain the security of the Secretariat financially and logistically.
    C.   Offer financial compensation the family members of killed guerrillas.
    D.  File and close all criminal investigations against any FARC member.
    E.   All imprisoned guerrilla fighter must be released and have charged against them dropped.
    F.   Delete all criminal entries from government and Interpol websites.
    G.   Not allow that the name of the FARC-EP is defamed or depreciated on an international level.
    H.  Allow the FARC their own television station and their own radio station with the purpose of freely expressing their ideas and freely communicate.
    I.    Act justly against those who attack the FARC and its ideas.
  7. The Rural Peasant Reserve Zones wil be verified and controlled by the FARC-EP.
  8. The FARC-EP, as political movement, should receive a percentage from the exploitation of mines and hydrocarbon which will be a common agreement with the Santos administration.

In a response, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon did not confirm the veracity of the demands, but stressed that negotiations with the guerrillas are under the authority of President Juan Manuel Santos and government chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle.

The minister did say that the definition of the FARC as a terrorist group obeys linguistics. “He who does terrorism is a terrorist,” Pinzon said.

Sub delegations of the FARC and the military command have been negotiating the end of conflict for weeks while the main delegations have been negotiating victims.

The two delegations began negotiating an end to the country’s 50-year-long armed conflict since November 2012 and have since agreed on rural reform, drug trafficking and political participation. If the delegates reach agreement on victims and the end of conflict, the FARC’s war against the government formally comes to an end.

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