Colombia: FARC's Main Dissident 'Ready' to Negotiate Peace

The FARC dissident guerrillas said they were “ready” on Sunday, during a large public rally in southern Colombia, to begin peace negotiations with the Colombian government starting May 16.

“We are announcing to the world that our delegates at the dialogue table with the government are ready for May 16,” said a spokeswoman for the central staff of the FARC (EMC-FARC), the main dissidence of the Forces Revolutionary Armies of Colombia (FARC), which had refused to sign the historic 2016 peace agreement between the government and the Marxist guerrillas.

The EMC-FARC “hopes that the official installation of the negotiating table can take place”, according to this “political declaration” read at the podium of this unprecedented “popular” rally organized in full territory of the guerrillas, in the savannah from the region of San Vicente del Caguan, in the department of Caqueta.

The number one dissenter, “Ivan Mordisco”, accompanied by his staff, was present, in front of several thousand people, the vast majority of peasants, members of social organizations and sympathizers of the rebellion.

Under his command, the dissidents, who consider themselves the true heirs of the FARC, long the most powerful Marxist guerrilla in Latin America, have federated in recent months several other “Fronts” of dissidents operating in various regions of Colombia.

They are estimated at nearly 3,000 men and operate mainly in the Amazon, on the Pacific coast and on the Venezuelan border.

With this gathering in the form of a commitment to peace, in the Yari savannah, in the Amazonian foothills, FARC dissidents are responding to the proposal for negotiation by left-wing president Gustavo Petro, elected in the summer of 2022, which aims to restore “total peace” in the country, after more than half a century of internal conflict and where many armed groups continue to operate.

At the initiative of President Petro, a six-month bilateral ceasefire has been agreed with the main factions of the FARC dissent since January 1, as well as with other armed groups.