Colombia’s Interior Minister Germain Vargas said Friday there were no plans to hold FARC peace talks in Cuba, as rumored.
Speaking to Radio Caracol, Vargas dismissed suggestions that secret negotiations in Cuba were being considered — a rumor sparked by the presence of former Colombian senator and leading peace activist Pieded Cordoba in the country.
The minister said, “The government has not put begun any type of conversation, public or private, to move [this type of agenda] forward.”
He reiterated the government’s much-quoted stance, that negotiations would only be considered once the FARC made “real gestures” of peace — namely, the release of hostages.
According to Vargas, the release of six security force hostages promised by the rebels was not sufficient; they must also “stop kidnapping in all its forms.”
