The Colombian government and the South American country’s largest remaining guerrilla group resumed peace talks Monday, breaking a roughly four-year hiatus where the rebels expanded their territory.
The delegates in a joint declaration stated they had gathered to restart political dialogue “with full political and ethical will, as demanded by the people of rural and urban territories that suffer from violence and exclusion, and other sectors of society.” They added that they are willing to “build peace based on a democracy with justice.”
Diplomats from Venezuela, Cuba, and Norway will assist in the negotiations, while representatives from Chile and Spain will observe it. Previous negotiations, some going back to the 1990s, have failed.
Although it is yet to be determined whether rebels will eventually be granted amnesty, Colombia's high commissioner for peace, Danilo Rueda, said that “nothing is based on impunity.”
Read more here.
