The last round of the talks with the Farc in Havana came to a close on February 12 so we are in another lull. Time for government negotiators to do their laundry, get reacquainted with their families and deal with other issues on the home front.
The incident count was up by four this week to 34 due to both Armed Forces and non-Armed Forces reported incidents.=”>
The Farc made a public announcement that they have been urged by peace advocates to continue with their unilateral cease fire, and pressed the government to make it a bilateral agreement.
The incident count was up by two this week to 30 but that was entirely due to the Armed Forces as our measure of guerrilla-initiated incidents stayed flat at 4.
The first round of talks in 2015 started on Monday, kicking off what President Juan Manuel Santos describes as “the most difficult stage” of the talks, as the issue of how to structure a post-conflict transition becomes the focus.
The Farc’s unilateral truce appears to be holding – despite the strains caused by continued government bombardments – as our measure of guerrilla-initiated incidents fell even though the total count was up one from last week to 28.
Farc commander Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias ‘Timochenko’ criticized the government and called for a transitional process that is applied equally to former guerrilla members and the armed forces.
The ELN played a leading role as the overall count increased once again to 27 this week (below the long-term average but above recent averages), driven mostly by an increase in non-Armed Forces-reported incidents.
The Attorney General Eduardo Montealegre sparked a debate this week after he said that a referendum to approve an eventual peace agreement is not necessary, not from a constitutional nor legal standpoint. Instead the government has the power to pass the agreements as a Public Order Law, a power which was renewed by congress last year.
The geographic band from Cauca through Huila and into southern Meta and northern Caqueta continues to be a concern. The overall count increased to 24 this week, below the long-term average but above recent averages.
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