MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombia government warns effective peace conditions with FARC could take ten years

That is as long as a peace agreement is reached, said Humberto de la Calle

The head of the Colombian negotiation team Humberto de la Calle cautioned on Monday that in case a definitive agreement is reached with the FARC rebel forces, (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces), peace could reach ten years after the ratification of the accord.

“Discussions in Havana don’t have the purpose of the illusion that the signing of a document will immediately and automatically propel us to peace in Colombia. We’ve established a series of points that must generate changes which effectively fix and allow us to reach a true, stable and longstanding peace situation. And that means time, years, ten years” said De la Calle in Havana.

The former Vice-president from the nineties also made it clear that the current negotiations between the government and FARC, taking place in Havana with auspices of Cuba and Norway, are only dealing with the ‘end of the conflict’, in direct reference to some voices that have warned about a possible regression of rule of the law in Colombia, based on some of the demands make public by FARC to put an end to half a century of armed conflict.

FARC has demanded a general amnesty, a constitutional assembly and letting fall the free trade agreement with the US, among other issues.

President Juan Manuel Santos has denied any of the above, particularly for blood crimes and anticipated that any agreement reached with FARC will be put to consideration of the Colombian people through a referendum.