US envoy present at historic Santos-Timochenko meeting: Report
Source: Colombia Reports
US envoy present at historic Santos-Timochenko meeting: Report
Posted by Adriaan Alsema on Sep 23, 2015
United States envoy Bernard Aronson took part in a historic peace meeting between Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, FARC rebel leader “Timochenko” and Cuban President Raul Castro, reported local media.
According to the weekly Semana, the US envoy took part in the meeting preceding the announcement of a partial accord on justice in which both the Colombian government and the FARC agreed to submit to transitional justice to respond of the tens of thousands of war crimes committed in the 51 years of the conflict.
The United States has supported the Colombian government for 15 years in attempts to defeat the FARC and has taken active part in the peace talks since February when Secretary of State John Kerry appointed Aronson as the US government’s special envoy to the talks.
The meeting between Santos and Timochenko is the first public encounter since peace talks began in 2012 and an important indication that the peace talks that seek to end 51 years of violence are at their point of no return.
Read more: http://colombiareports.com/us-envoy-present-at-historic-santos-timochenko-meeting-report/
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Colombia, FARC Rebel Group Announce Major Breakthrough in Peace Talks
by Mary Murray and James Eng
Sep 23 2015, 8:43 pm ET
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the top commander of leftist FARC rebels shook hands on Wednesday and agreed to reach a final peace deal within six months in Latin America's longest war.
"The chief of the FARC secretariat and I have agreed that in no more than six months this negotiation should come to an end and we should sign a final agreement," Santos told a ceremony in Havana, the site of peace talks for the past three years.
Rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have fought the Colombian government for 51 years in a conflict that has killed some 220,000 and displaced millions.
[font size=1]
TV grab of Telesur of Cuban President Raul Castro (C), Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos (L) and the head
of the FARC guerrilla group Timoleon Jimenez, aka Timochenko (R), shaking hands during a meeting in Havana
on September 23, 2015. AFP - Getty Images
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"This will not be an easy task because there are still some difficult points to agree. But it is an instruction that we have given to our delegations, that we reach an agreement as soon as possible," Santos said. "We won't fail. The time for peace has arrived."
More:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/colombia-farc-rebel-group-announce-major-breakthrough-peace-talks-n432646
