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The Farc have grabbed headlines this week after unilaterally declaring a bilateral, indefinite cease fire.  That is, the guerrilla says that as long as it is not attacked by government troops, it will not attack either. But that starts on December 20^th and, in the meantime, they blew up the Transandino pipeline.

The overall count decreased to 33 this week, below recent and long-term averages. There were no direct attacks on infrastructure in press reports and the graph shows our proxy for guerrilla-initiated events also fell and took the short-term moving average with it.

The last two years the Farc has declared a unilateral truce over the holiday season, but thus far no such affirmation has came from the guerrilla. Meanwhile in Havana talks started again this week on Wednesday.

Army General Rubén Darío Alzate is back at home and after a few speed bumps, the talks will restart on December 10th. But the incident has left a scar on the talks, and questions persist about how the commander became the first general to fall into the hands of the Farc.

The count decreased again to 33 this week, below recent and long-term averages. However guerrilla-incidents show an unfortunate trend and there were a number of direct attacks on the industry.

The Colombian military has already called off its operations in the Chocó Department around the area where kidnapped General Rubén Darío Alzate is set to be liberated this Saturday by the Farc.

The count actually decreased to 37 this week, around recent and long-term averages. However, guerrilla-initiated incidents were up, the Farc launched an audacious attack on a Pacific Island and the kidnapped general still has not been released.

The Finance Minister (MinHacienda) Mauricio Cárdenas said that an agreement has been reached with congress that will see a phasing out of the wealth tax on companies by 2018, although it will maintain the tax for individuals.

A volatile week for the peace talks after General Rubén Darío Alzate ended up in Farc hands, causing the government to suspend talks on Monday. An agreement appears to be in place that would liberate him and two other hostages, but many questions still remain.

The count increased sharply to 49 this week, well above recent and long-term averages. The kidnapping of an Army general in Chocó on Sunday led President Juan Manuel Santos to suspend peace talks in Havana.