Colombia’s government and largest rebel group FARC on Sunday announced a public forum on the first of five points on the two warring parties’ agenda: agricultural reform.
The forum will be held in the Colombian capital Bogota in December.
“This, with the objective that the [peace talks] table receives input and proposals coming from citizen participation to be used for the discussion of the first item on the agenda,” the government and rebel delegates said in the first joint press release since formal talks started Monday a week ago.
Congress, with the support of the U.N., held a first public forum on the peace talks on November 4 in the southwestern city fo Pasto. Local organizations then demanded more input in the peace talks.
A reform of Colombia’s agriculture is one of the FARC’s main demands to lay down weapons. The United Nations has also adviced a reform as a way to diminish extreme poverty in the country’s rural regions.
