Colombia rejects FARC ceasefire offer

Colombia’s government has rejected a unilateral truce announced by the country’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), saying the guerrillas’ condition for an international verification of the truce cannot be accepted.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in a statement on Thursday that he could not accept the FARC’s demand that the truce be verified by several Latin American nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Santos said such external verification could take place after a deal is reached to end hostilities.

The government’s refusal to enter a bilateral ceasefire with the FARC signifies Bogota’s fear that a truce before a deal to end hostilities would only give the rebels time to re-arm.

Santos said, however, that he values the rebels’ truce proposal as a way to begin de-escalating a half-a-century-old conflict that still claims hundreds of civilian lives every year and is fueled by the trafficking of cocaine and other criminal activity.

FARC on Wednesday said it would stop fighting for an unlimited period to boost the peace talks that have been held in Cuba since two years ago.

Also on Thursday, the FARC expressed regret over its role in a 2002 massacre, in which at least 79 people were killed and many more injured. Back then, the FARC attacked a church where civilians were taking refuge during a battle between the FARC and a paramilitary group.

On December 3, the Colombian government and FARC resumed the latest round of peace talks suspended last month over the abduction of an army general.

FARC is Latin America’s oldest insurgent group and has been fighting the Colombian government since 1964.

The Colombian government and the rebels have held several rounds of peace talks to end the 50-year conflict.

Bogota estimates that 600,000 people have been killed and more than 4.5 million displaced due to the fighting.

The rebel organization is thought to have around 8,000 fighters operating across a large swathe of the eastern jungles of the Andean nation.