Colomian president Juan Manual Santos on Monday affirmed his intention to achieve peace with the country’s largest guerrilla group, the FARC, by any means necessary.
“We must persevere, we will continue until we achieve peace…by whatever means necessary. [We] will not lower our guard for a moment. And we will continue…striving to achieve the tranquility and peace that the Colombian people deserve,” said Santos.
Throughout the peace talks with the FARC, Santos has been clear about his intention to never cease military operations until a definitive peace accord is reached. The guerrillas issued a two-month unilateral ceasefire on November 20, but since it came to an end on January 20, rebel attacks on infrastructure and against security forces have been reported almost daily.
“The FARC declared a unilateral truce called for a time,” explained the president. “There was a reduction in the number of attacks [which] must be acknowledged. But since breaking or ending the unilateral truce, [from] January 20 until today, the number of attacks against…the Colombian people [and] against the security forces [are] not more than what they were last year or the year before.”
Santos claimed that the attacks have simply been getting more attention in the media which in turn gives off the impression that the FARC are stronger than they really are.
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