The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla resumed peace talks in Havana in order to put an end to the armed conflict, and reach peace as soon as possible, which would be unacceptable to achieve “at any cost,” according to the parties’ statements.
“We want results,” said former Colombian Vice President Humberto de la Calle, head of the government delegation, but “peace will not come at any price; it will not be carelessly achieved, there is no room for peace against the will of citizens,” he stated when reading a press release.
“This is a process that cannot continue for a long time, and we have clearly said this at the negotiating table, he added.
Meanwhile Pablo Catatumbo, who joined the FARC delegation of negotiators in Havana, said that the insurgents have started this new round of talks “with the strong determination to reach the most important demand of the Colombian people in history.”
“Peace is not an unimportant matter; on the contrary, it is the most important goal for generations that are longing for a less painful ending to the conflict we are living in,” Catatumbo said in a press release.
The talks started on November 19, and are still addressing the first point of the five-point agenda: the agrarian issue, which is the most complex of all. The delegations are resuming talks after a month-long recess.
During this time, “we made a determination to strengthen this process, giving us time to thoroughly analyze and prepare the remaining points to identify scenarios for agreement and move forward more quickly,” De la Calle explained.
“We are here to find a political solution to the Colombian conflict on the basis of social justice. We want social justice, democracy and sovereignty for Colombia,” said Iván Márquez, head of the guerrilla delegation in the talks.