Colombia and FARC Dissidents Complete Fourth Dialogue Cycle

The government and a breakaway group from the former FARC-EP, known as the Central General Staff of the FARC, finished their fourth round of negotiations on Sunday, March 10. This latest round of talks led to a crucial agreement: both parties have committed to keeping the cease-fire, which is scheduled to continue until July 15.

In January, a ceasefire was declared, although both sides were accused of not sticking to it. During the latest round of talks in San Jose de Guaviare, there was an agreement to enhance the methods used to check and monitor the ceasefire’s adherence. It was also decided to quickly implement the agreements already made in certain areas.

Participation in the peace process

“The peace dialogue table is committed to positively address the transforming and inclusive proposals and the demands for an effective, pluralistic participation, respect for the autonomy and rights of the organizations, leaderships, communities and peoples”, states the document released yesterday by the parties.

In regions such as Nariño, Putumayo and Arauca, the mission is to carry out social dialogues and contributions to establish new agreements. Likewise, the special agreement for transformations in the Micay river basin and the fulfillment of the commitments defined since October 16, 2023 was ratified; for which a commission was appointed that will be present starting April in the El Plateado village, a rural area of Argelia (Cauca).

“The dialogues have no turning back, we think that this is the way to a lasting and stable peace”, assured the delegate of the Central General Staff, Ciro Romero, alias Willy.

The United Nations accompanied the dialogue

Carlos Ruiz Massieu, representative of the United Nations Verification Mission, was present at the final stage of this fourth round of the complex dialogue between the Colombian State and this illegal armed group.

The representative of the international organization explained the progress of the ceasefire monitoring, which is being carried out by the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism led by the Verification Mission and the Catholic Church.

“I welcome the willingness of the Government and the Central General Staff to resolve differences through dialogue. I call on them to move forward without delay in the adoption of measures for the benefit of the communities, both in terms of ceasefire and territorial transformations,” said Massieu.

For his part, Camilo Gonzalez, chief government negotiator said that “we want to make transformations for the people that contribute to the social economy of the regions and complement their development”. Gonzalez also pointed out that, as in the case of the dialogues with the ELN guerrilla, financing and a multi-donor fund are being sought to finance peace with this armed group.

“It is almost decisive that these processes cannot be carried out without sufficient economic capacity and for this reason we are open to these proposals, but they must not have the intention of financing illegal activities or strengthening armed conflict”, said Gonzalez.

The next cycle of dialogues will resume on April 20 in Ocaña, a town in the department of Norte de Santander.