FARC and Colombian Government Agree to Bilateral Cease-fire

The de-escalation agreement puts a halt to months of uncertainty regarding the peace talks, which have been going on since 2012 and are widely considered the country’s best chance in years of ending its longstanding conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos wrote, in Spanish, on his Twitter account: “We appreciate the gesture of a unilateral ceasefire by the FARC, but more is needed, especially concrete commitments to speed up the negotiations”.

Following the FARC’s recent announcement of a one-month unilateral ceasefire starting July 20, the government has committed to curtailing its efforts against guerrillas for the first time since peace talks began in 2012.

The Farc’s chief negotiator at the talks in Cuba, Ivan Marquez, said he hoped the ceasefire could lead to a bilateral truce.

The Colombian government had previously expressed its opposition to a bilateral cease-fire before signing a final peace accord.

His government counterpart, Humberto de la Calle said the agreement shows “the opportunity to end the conflict is alive”.

“We reaffirm our decision to relinquish weapons”, FARC representative Ricardo Tellez said on Thursday.

The historic agreement comes just days after the guarantor nations to the peace process – Norway and Cuba – called on both parties to agree to a truce. “Nothing could please us more than to end definitively with the confrontation, the violence, new victims and the suffering of the Colombian people as a result of the conflict”.

A Farc ceasefire was called in December, but clashes resumed in April with the killing of 11 soldiers and subsequent bombing raids on rebel positions.

The armed strife in Colombia dates back to 1964, and has involved drug gangs and right-wing paramilitaries as well as the radical leftist FARC.

The incident prompted the government to renew aerial strikes against guerrilla forces, and FARC rebels responded by attacking several oil pipelines in the country.