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Talks With Colombian Government Are On A Good Path, Says FARC Negotiator

Colombian members of FARC, commanders Ivan Marquez, center, and Rodrigo Granda, left, arrive at Convention Palace in Havana for the peace talks with the Colombian government on Monday.
Adalberto Roque
/
AFP/Getty Images
Colombian members of FARC, commanders Ivan Marquez, center, and Rodrigo Granda, left, arrive at Convention Palace in Havana for the peace talks with the Colombian government on Monday.

We know all eyes are in Egypt today, where negotiations for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas are ongoing.

But there is another set of talks happening in Havana, Cuba that is worth paying attention to. Those negotiations are happening between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's Marxist guerilla.

"We're moving ahead at a good pace, on the right track and trying to make sure of the full participation of the public," rebel negotiator Jesus Santrich said according to Reuters.

Today marks the second day of negotiations. Remember, the parameters of the talk were set in Oslo back in October.

As Reuters explains, earlier declarations were tense, so this peppy talk from Santrich is good news.

The FARC, in breach of what had been talked about, also announced a cease-fire, yesterday. The Colombian government, however, said it would continue its military operations against the rebels.

As we've told you, Colombia stopped attacks on the FARC once before, but the rebels took that opportunity to regroup and retrain its members.

This round of talks is scheduled to last 10 days.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.