After almost three years of negotiations between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) in Havana, the two parties have taken another historic step in the process toward ending the political, social and military conflict which has been afflicting the country for over half a century.
Granma offers a chronology of the most important events of this peace process, which has seen the most progress since the agreements made under President Belisario Bentancur in the 1980s.
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2012
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September 4.- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) announce the signing of a General Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, in Havana. The text establishes six points of discussion in order to achieve peace after more than half a century of conflict: a comprehensive agricultural development policy, political participation, an end to the conflict, ending the illegal drugs trade, victims’ rights, and the implementation, verification and ratification of the agreements. Cuba and Norway take on the role of guarantor nations to the peace process. Venezuela and Chile are named as accompanying nations.
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September 4.- Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Cuba outlines that the Revolution has a historic commitment to the peace process in Colombia and to the efforts underway to end the political, social and military conflict in this sister nation.
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October 17.- Peace process beings in Oslo, Norway. First plenipotentiary negotiators announced.
Government of Colombia: Former Vice President, Humberto de la Calle; High Commissioner for Peace, Sergio Jaramillo; President of the National Business Association (ANDI), Luis Carlos Villegas; and retired Generals Jorge Enrique Mora Rángel (Armed Forces) and Óscar Naranjo (Police).
FARC-EP: Comandante Iván Márquez, Ricardo Téllez, Andrés París and Marco León Calarcá. The organization requests that Simón Trinidad, imprisoned in the United States, be included in the negotiating team.
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November 6.- Technical meeting in Havana to define details in order to begin the process of peace talks.
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November 13.- The second largest guerrilla organization in Colombia, the National Liberation Army (ELN), announces its willingness to initiate “exploratory peace talks” three days after the talks between the FARC and the Colombian government begin in Havana.
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November 19.- Peace talks between government of Juan Manuel Santos and FACR-EP officially inaugurated in Havana’s Convention Center. Iván Márquez, member of the FARC-EP secretariat announces a unilateral cease fire from November 20 through January 20, by the rebels.
(Diario Granma)