Negotiators from Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC said Monday there were still differences with the government regarding the first point on the peace talks agenda; comprehensive agrarian reform.
A written agreement on agrarian reform, the first and perhaps most controversial issue on the agenda at the FARC-government peace talks in Havana, Cuba, has been delayed on several occasions.
Leading FARC negotiator “Jesus Santrich” said “any understanding about restitution and formalization of land must take into account the 100 minimum [FARC] proposals for rural development.”
Humberto de la Calle, the leader of the government peace delegation, has on several occasions stated the government will only negotiate about the points outlined in the document of the peace process, signed by both parties in the Norwegian capital of Oslo in October 2012.
Santrich said negotiators were working “around the clock” to reach an agreement on the subject before May 25, after which the warring parties aim to discuss the FARC’s political participation in a post-conflict Colombia, the second point up for negotiation in Havana.
“Ivan Marquez,” the leader of the FARC’s negotiation team, said any agrarian reform would have to “remove the concentration of land in the hands of the few,” claiming unequal land ownership was the “root cause” of the Colombian armed conflict.
Sources
- Los Diálogos en la Habana: Entre la especulación y la desinformación (Official FARC blog)
- No hay todavía un acuerdo sobre el tema agrario: Farc (El Colombiano)
