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Colombia – The FARC dissidence with the most armed power, the Central General Staff, commanded by Iván Mordisco, announces that it is interested in participating in peace talks with the government of Gustavo Petro. The group is one of the most violent in the country, which has repeatedly violated the ceasefire. For now, the Government has not made a statement and it is not public knowledge exactly what the oversight and control would be like in this process if it were to take place.
The main dissidence of the FARC, the Central General Staff, commanded by Iván Mordisco – whom the Government of Iván Duque left for dead – will propose to the Government of Gustavo Petro to install the peace table in Norway and announces that this Sunday, April, will make what he calls his first political declaration of his commitment to peace.
This group, made up of men at its base, who abandoned the process that disarmed the FARC in 2016 in the agreement between the government of then-President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC guerrillas, is the one that has violated the ceasefire the most. This has been recorded by the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz), which has recorded 60 acts of violence that affect other groups and the civilian population.
The factions of these dissidents have a presence in the south, east and west of Colombia, in Guaviare, Meta, Caquetá, Vaupés and Guainía. From there the structure has expanded to Amazonas, on the border with Brazil and Peru; Putumayo, border with Ecuador; Casanare, Arauca and Norte de Santander, on the border with Venezuela, according to the InSight Crime Foundation.
This time, the voice of the guerrillas who are gathered in a kind of “conclave” is that of the commander of the 33rd Front, alias Andrey, who from the Llanos del Yarí makes this announcement to the media.
“We believe that it is possible to build peace, with social justice and from the territories (…) The Colombian people can have full confidence that our commitment to peace (…) is sincere and real,” said Commander Andrey , leader of the Front33, promising to announce a date for the start of negotiations with the government.
President Petro had said a month ago that these talks with the group were progressing, a job that has been carried out by the Peace Commissioner, Danilo Rueda, for eight months in talks with Mordisco, who assumed power of the organization after the death of Gentil. Duarte, on May 4, 2022. Thus, on April 26 this negotiation table would begin.
This approach is part of the total peace lawwhich President Gustavo Petro signed in November of last year and which was the first law issued by Congress during its four-year term, which allows for the negotiation of peace agreements with armed groups.
For this same reason, on January 1, 2023, the President announced on Twitter the bilateral ceasefire for six months with five armed groups: the National Liberation Army (ELN), the second Marquetalia and the Central General Staff, dissidents of the FARC, the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC or Clan del Golfo) and the Sierra Nevada Self-Defense Forces.
However, Indepaz registered 80 violations of the bilateral ceasefire in the first quarter of the year.
With EFE, AFP and local media
