Peace talks between the Farc and Colombian government restarted Tuesday in Havana, Cuba, kicking off the 18th round of negotiations and the last of 2013. Talk continues to revolve around the illegal drug trade. Meanwhile in Colombia a unilateral truce has gone into effect.
If it feels like the guerrilla have been more active (despite the Farc’s recent announcement of a truce) that is the reality. The graph shows our proxy for guerrilla activity: incidents not reported by the Armed Forces.
Just a day after a devastating attack on a police station in Inzá, Cauca that left eight dead, the Farc announced in Havana, Cuba a unilateral ceasefire for 30 days starting December 15, but said that more attacks could come before it goes into effect.
Incidents near areas of interest to the oil and gas industry were down 7% this week at 26 below recent and long-term averages. Non-Armed Forces incidents were about double the long-term average. This is our indicator of increased guerrilla-initiated activity. Correspondingly, our 4-week Moving Average incident count was down to 26.0 and the 52 week average was down at 32.6 incidents per week.
This week the topic of the illegal drug trade continues to dominate the discussion in Habana, Cuba, with the Farc calling for legal coca, decriminalized drug use and participation of the US and European authorities in the discussion.
After a swell in security incidents in recent months in Arauca the Colombian Army has deployed a tactical unit to maintain order and guarantee mobility within the department.
The Meta governor Alan Jara rejected the work pace of the OCAD entities, those which oversee, approve and pay for projects involving royalty funds, and accused them as being not more than a centrist tool to administer the funds.
Incidents near areas of interest to the oil and gas industry were up 12% this week at 28 but still below recent and long-term averages. Non-Armed Forces incidents were slightly above the long-term average. This is our indicator of increased guerrilla-initiated activity. Correspondingly, our 4-week Moving Average incident count was down to 29.0 and the 52 week average was down at 32.9 incidents per week.
This week the discussion of the illegal drug trade, the third agenda point in the roundtable in Havana got off to the start, with the Farc arguing that the problem is not the coca crops, it’s the cocaine trade.
Casanare has become the eighth department to receive a special investigative unit, called the Structure of Support (EDA), which will focus on criminal cases involving the oil industry and its infrastructure.