Colombian Peace Talks to Resume in Havana

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group are to resume peace talks Tuesday after a month-long recess, Cuban media reported.

During this new round of talks, FARC delegation, headed by Ivan Marquez, and the government delegation, led by former Vice President Humberto de la Calle, are expected to wrap up negotiations on land reform and move on to the next point of transforming FARC into a political party or movement, Xinhua reported.

According to the reports, FARC will send a delegation that includes new representatives such as Laura Villa, Sergio Ibanez and Jorge Torres Victoria.

The peace talks, which began on Nov. 19 and went into recess on March 21, enter the eighth round Tuesday.

In a joint statement issued on April 18, the government and the insurgency representatives confirmed “advances” related to the agrarian issue, the first of five issues on the agenda for reaching peace in Colombia.

The other points of the peace talks include the end of armed conflicts, trafficking of illegal drugs, care for victims, and verification mechanisms to check the accords achieved during the talks.

The civil war in Colombia has lasted more than five decades, claiming 600,000 lives and leaving some 15,000 unaccounted for and almost 4 million displaced.