National Government will not extend fire with the FARC dissent

He National Government He decided not to extend the bilateral fire with the General Staff of the blocks (Emb), one of the main dissidents of the former guerrillas of The FARCwhich concluded this Tuesday after 18 months and that it was expected to be approved by another six.

The extension had to be decreed by President Gustavo Petro, but the Government sent a letter to the peace delegations in which it communicates the decision of “Do not extend bilateral and temporal cessation with respect to the civilian population“

(You can read: They found more than 1,000 antipersonnel mines of a FARC dissent in the south of the country).

The letter, whose content was made public this Thursday, was sent by the Peace Commissioner Ministrywhich depends on the Presidency of the Republicbased on the provisions of the negotiation protocols.

FARC dissidents

EFE

The document, dated April 16, points out that, “From the exact date and time of this notification, the parties have 72 hours so that they can be located in places where they assume their own security and protection measures“

(You may be interested: The multimillionaire sum offered by the Ministry of Defense for ‘Iván Bite).

The notification results from several meetings this week between the government and the delegation of the dissidents headed by alias ‘Calarcá’ in the municipality of La Macarenain it Meta department (center)where several agreements left but not the extension of cessation to the fire for another six months.

Andrey Avendaño, one of the EMB peace negotiators, said that a date was already determined for the seventh cycle of the dialogues, which will take place in VillavicencioMeta capital, between May 18 and 24.

Nariño House.

Time

“I receive the news of the ceasefire with the EMB with prudence and respect. For our department, peace dialogues have always been an opportunity to end the cruel war that the country frees, but never a space to allow armed groups outside the law to strengthen“, he reacted to his X the Governor of Meta, Rafaela Cortés.

(Besides: In Colombia there are about 21,500 individuals in arms, according to military intelligence).

For its part, the NGO Director Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), Leonardo Gonzálezhe considered that the government’s decision “It represents a serious setback for communities that inhabit territories historically beaten by the armed conflict“

“This measure not only implies the restart of hostilities, but also seriously hinders the implementation of social, environmental and economic programs of the State in areas where the institutional presence is already weak or null“González added.

The dialogues continue

The government also reported that the arrest warrants against the members of the dissidents have been reactivated, although he clarified that this does not mean the end of peace conversations.

“The decision not to extend the bilateral cessation does not affect the awards as members representing the EMB for this process, nor the corresponding suspensions of capture orders“, reads in the document.

(Saga reading: What is a popular consultation, which President Petro spoke?).

Last January, the Ombudsman issued an early alert for the risk of the communities of seven of the 32 Colombian departments for the splitting of the Central Staff (EMC) The main of the dissidents, from which the Block Staff (Emb) emerged in 2024.

FARC dissidents

EFE

“This early alert is issued by the serious risks for the civil population derived from the expansion and/or armed confrontation between the dissident groups of the extinct Farc under the command of alias ‘Calarcá Córdoba’ (Emb) and those that are under the command of alias ‘Iván Bite’“The Ombudsman then said.

The Government and the EMC began in 2023 a negotiation until the split of this armed group was confirmed due to the belligerence of some of its fronts, especially in the department of the Caucawhere this Thursday was attacked with explosives a police post, which caused death to a woman and wounds to another.

Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, aka ‘Iván Bite’that he was the biggest head of the EMC and now he is of his most belligerent faction, he has faced the EMB guerrillas led by Alexander Díaz, alias ‘Calarcá Córdoba’ since last August.

For that reason, the Government stopped negotiating with the dissidents of ‘Ivan Bite’, but maintains the dialogues with those of ‘Calarcá Córdoba’, despite the end of cessation to the fire.

EFE