Latin America

FARC asks Colombian govt. to postpone 2014 election to safeguard peace process

FARC asks Colombian govt. to postpone 2014 election to safeguard peace process

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have asked the Colombian government to postpone the 2014 presidential election in order to ensure that the peace talks between the two sides continue.
Luciano Marin Arango, a top FARC commander also known as Ivan Marquez, made the remarks in a statement after talks resumed at Convention Palace in Havana on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Marquez stated that a delay would prevent political campaigning from jeopardizing the peace process.

“Let us open a national debate about the urgency and propriety of postponing the electoral calendar for a year,” he said.

However, Colombian government negotiator Humberto de la Calle disagreed with the idea, saying, “We should not distract ourselves with proposals that contribute little to clarity, as is happening with the supposed prolongation of elected terms… That doesn’t work.”

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos also rejected the proposal in an interview with a Colombian radio station.

“There is not even the most minimal chance I would consider that proposal to extend terms,” the Colombian president said, adding, “That is completely ruled out.”

The latest round of peace talks between the FARC rebels and the Colombian government kicked off in the Cuban capital at the end of 2012.

On May 27, the two sides came to an agreement over land reform.

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

The Colombian government estimates that 600,000 people have been killed and three million people have been internally displaced by 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.

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