Colombia: Far-right death squads threaten peace

Colombia: Far-right death squads threaten peace
Apr Monday 11th 2016

posted by Morning Star in World
by Our Foreign Desk

LIBERATION army Farc has reiterated its commitment to peace but urged Bogota to control far-right paramilitaries.

In a letter to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos published by regional news network Telesur on Saturday, Farc leader Timoleon Jimenez — alias Timochenko — hit back at media attacks on his organisation.

But he wrote: “Keeping our weapons does not interest us as much as preserving life does.”

Mr Santos has, through his negotiators, pressed the Farc to set a schedule for disarmament while evading the question of a bilateral ceasefire date.

Government officials have complicated the Cuban-Norwegian mediated talks in Havana by claiming publicly that the Farc is unwilling to disarm.

“Deadlines cannot be open for one of the parties and fixed, precise and firm for the other,” Timochenko wrote.

“That is why we must be prudent, working to develop agreements simultaneously and comprehensibly.”

More:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-87f6-Colombia-Far-right-death-squads-threaten-peace#.VwsMmOT2Yq0