Colombia’s largest rebel group, FARC, on Monday agreed with the government, saying they too want the pace of peace talks to speed up, though they claim the impetus is on the government to do so.
Responding to comments made by Humberto de la Calle, the government’s lead negotiator, who on Monday said that the peace talks “could not be prolonged indefinitely,” Ivan Marquez, the guerillas’ lead negotiator, said “instead of so much rhetoric, begin with concrete proposals for how we move forward.”
Colombia president Juan Manuel Santos has already said that negotiations will not last past November. Government officials wanted the first point on the agenda — agrarian reform — to be hashed out before Easter, yet both sides have been discussing this contentious topic since the second round of peace talks began on November 19. Both parties received more than 500 rural development proposals from citizens on January 10.
In addition to lamenting the slow pace of negotiations, Marquez also said there would not be an extension of the unilateral ceasefire FARC issued back in November.
“The unilateral ceasefire ends on January 20,” declared the rebel leader.
