US wants to be part of the solution for Colombian peace .
Source: Colombia Reports
US wants to be part of the solution for Colombian peace .
Thursday, 18 October 2012 11:48 Joey O'Gorman
"We want to be clear that we have overwhelming support for the process. It is a great opportunity and we will give all the backing that is possible," said the U.S. official according to newspaper El Tiempo.
According to Jacobson this support in principal reinforces that which Washington already gives to Colombia in areas of importance to both parties such as land, human rights and generation of economic opportunities.
The U.S. official reiterated that the aim of the U.S., like the international community, was to support a process that was conducive to lasting peace.
On the issue of Simon Trinidad, who the FARC had called as a negotiator but who is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence in a maximum security prison in the U.S., Jacobson said that neither she nor any other U.S. official would be commenting on details that are part of the negotiations.
Read more: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/peace-talks/26571-us-wants-to-be-part-of-the-solution-for-colombian-peace.html
AUC wants to actively participate in peace talks: Salvatore Mancuso .
Thursday, 18 October 2012 08:53 Courtney Scott
Salvatore Mancuso, the extradited leader of the now defunct paramilitary organization AUC, wrote a letter to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos requesting to be a part of the peace process between the government and guerrilla group FARC.
In light of the installation of tables of dialogue between the Colombian government and the country's largest guerrilla group FARC that officially began in the Norwegian capital Oslo on Thursday, another surprise has arrived in the hands of President Santos.
A letter by Mancuso, the extradited former leader of the umbrella paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), addresses the president, the FARC, and the people of Colombia to revive the negotiation process between the paramilitaries and the government.
"I reiterate emphatically the desire of the AUC to actively participate in the joint process of constructing peace," said Mancuso, "Bitter and painful lessons of history and personal experiences, has taught us that a peace process that does not include the grand majority of the actors of the conflict will result as insufficient," wrote Mancuso.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/peace-talks/26570-auc-wants-to-actively-participate-in-peace-talks-salvatore-mancuso.html
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Oh. Wait... 
