Colombian insurgency nears end: FARC chief

BOGOTA

A member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) walks with his gun in the mountains of Caldono, Cauca province. FARC is the country’s largest militant group, with an estimated 8,000 fighters. REUTERS photo

The top negotiator for Colombia’s leftist FARC militant group said July 15 he was confident that the nearly 50 year old guerrilla war is almost over.

“We understand, and the country understands it as well, that wars are not eternal, and we feel certain somehow that Colombia is near the end of the conflict,” Ivan Marquez said in an interview with RCN radio.

Marquez is the FARC’s number two and the militant group’s lead negotiator in peace talks with the government that have been underway in Havana since November. “If artificial impediments are not put in the way, this will flow quickly,” he said.

Asked whether a peace agreement could be signed by next November, as Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has urged, Marquez said, “It’s possible, but I wouldn’t go so far as to assert it.”

Negotiators have reached agreement on the top item on the agenda, which concerns rural development. Starting July 15, they were to begin discussing the question of the militant’s participation in politics. Other agenda items include drug trafficking, the surrender of weapons and reparations for victims of the conflict.

IRA talks

Marquez said a constituent assembly should be convened to make the institutional changes needed to provide a foundation for peace. Such a constitutional assembly “would surround the (peace) agreement with legitimacy,” he said. “No successor president would be able to say, ‘I do not recognize these agreements.’ It is very important for that reason,” he said. Santos’ term ends in August 2014, although he could run for reelection. Marquez said they have studied the IRA example.

“We have been looking into other experiences. We have met the Irish, the IRA, and we found there a formula that needs to be very well studied,” he said.

“The most important is to make sure the weapons are out of reach, that they cannot be used.”
The FARC has not said how it intends to re-engage in politics once a peace agreement is reached, but Marquez indicated that the FARC would seek to form a coalition of leftist forces. Formed in 1964, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC by its Spanish acronym, is the country’s largest militant group, with an estimated 8,000 fighters.

A smaller leftist militant group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) is also active in Colombia and has so far remained outside the peace process. Marquez said it was up to the government and the ELN to decide what their next steps will be.