FARC Rebels Announce End of Two-Month Ceasefire

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) called an end to a unilateral ceasefire yesterday, with rebel leaders saying that the government’s decision refusal to join the truce left them with no other choice. While the ceasefire, which began in November, had always been scheduled to end on January 20, guerrillas said they would be willing to extend it if the government agreed to end hostilities as well. In Havana, where peace talks between officials and the FARC are still underway, the guerrilla group’s head negotiator Ivan Marquez urged the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos to reconsider its opposition to a truce.

While Santos has firmly rejected any talk of a government-backed break in hostilities, he did recognize that the FARC’s 60-day ceasefire had some effects, Caracol Radio reports. "The fact is that the number of operations carried out by the group decreased significantly, the number of police and soldiers killed or injured decreased," the president said on Sunday.

But the FARC did not completely halt all violent activity in the country over the past two months. According to the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office, FARC elements violated the ceasefire several times; the body documented 57 reported attacks on security forces, infrastructure targets and civilian populations since November.

Still, these incidents were reasonably minor, and even President Santos noted that there was “relative compliance” with the ceasefire within the FARC’s ranks. This is a positive sign for the prospects for peace in the country as it shows that the FARC’s command structure is still reasonably strong, and that the rebel’s top negotiators do in fact have the ability to speak for their organization as a whole. It also means that if the peace talks succeed and eventually lead to a demobilization process, there is reason to believe that the majority of rebels will participate, and internal splintering will be kept to a minimum.


News Briefs

• While the FARC have reined in armed actions in recent months, the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN) drew attention to itself on Friday after the government announced that the guerrilla group had kidnapped five mining workers in the northern province of Bolivar. Three of the hostages, a Canadian and two Peruvians, are foreigners. El Espectador reports that the army is patrolling the area in search of the victims, and officials say three suspects linked to the incident are already in custody.  Although the FARC announced in February that it would stop kidnapping civilians for ransom, the ELN has made no such declaration and continues the practice, which the group refers to as “retention.”

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