In Colombia, the peace talks initiated by the left-wing president Gustavo Petro are progressing as best they can. The armed group known as the EMC, which claims to belong to the former Marxist guerrillas of Farc, should announce this Sunday, April 16 the names of its peace negotiators. But two days ago, the EMC accused the army of violating the bilateral ceasefire in force since January 1st.
In September 2016, a few hundred guerrillas from the Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) refused to sign the peace treaty and surrender their arms. They are now called the Central Staff (EMC) and have more than 3,000 armed fighters, deployed mainly on the Pacific coast, on the border with Venezuela and in the south of the country. Under the command of Ivan Mordisco » (« Ivan the bite “, which the army declared having killed in July 2022), the EMC-Farc dissidents have federated in recent months at least three other fronts operating outside Caqueta, a historic stronghold of the Marxist guerrillas.
Large “forum” of the EMC in San Vicente del Caguan
Since the beginning of the month, the military leaders of EMC have been meeting in the savannah of the region of San Vicente del Caguan, one of the historic strongholds of the Farc to – they say – listen to the local population and define a common position, reports our correspondent. in Bogotá, Marie-Eve Detoeuf. The organization is organizing a large gathering this Sunday with the ” communities », « peasant guards and other rural organizations in these regions under rebel control, specifies AFP, which was invited to this gathering. ” The communities invited us to clarify the ongoing (peace) process with the government “, assured the commander Andrey Avendano.
For the record, on the initiative of left-wing president Gustavo Petro, a six-month bilateral ceasefire has been agreed since January 1 with several armed groups including the ELN (National Liberation Army), the main factions of the Farc dissidence and other armed groups linked to drug trafficking. It was one of the campaign promises of the new Colombian president. A ceasefire that experiences many violations, as was the case with the ELN in Marchand since suspended with the drug traffickers of the Clan del Golfo.
One step forward, one step back
In the middle of last week, the government announced that the peace process with the EMC-Farc is ” was consolidating “. A meeting was held on April 12, in the presence of representatives of the international community, with about fifteen commanders of this group gathered in the region of San Vicente del Caguan (southwest). Colombian justice has suspended the arrest warrants against 19 of the main leaders of the dissident guerrillas.
But these discussions do not prevent occasional clashes with the army. On Friday April 14, the guerrillas denounced violations of the ceasefire, in particular on April 11 and 12, respectively in the departments of Cauca (southwest) and Arauca (northeast). The first caused two deaths in its ranks by the shootings of the soldiers.
Despite these tensions, EMC-Farc military leaders said on Saturday that ” all units of the organization have expressed their desire for peace in the interest of the people “. The EMC-Farc proposes to the government to hold a meeting in Norway and should announce the names of its negotiators this Sunday.
(and with AFP)
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