Unlimited Cease-fire of the FARC in Colombia

From Havana, where he started two years ago the talks, the delegation of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces announced Wednesday the cessation of hostilities for an indefinite period, an unprecedented move since the launch of the peace process. FARC, however, keeps the pressure on the government, which has so far refused an armistice.

Until then, the Marxist rebellion, the oldest in Latin America, which still has 8,000 fighters after half a century of existence, had observed that the temporary cease-fire to the Christmas period. However, she warned that the truce would be suspended cases of attacks on the part of the police” and advocated the establishment of international observers, a new condition.

This announcement is a fundamental policy decision of the FARC to advance towards the search for an end to the confrontation, even before the signing of a definitive agreement , says political scientist Jaime Zuluaga, a teacher at the National University of Bogotá.

So far, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos opposes any military cease-fire before a final agreement, believing that a truce would strengthen the guerrillas and move away the prospect of peace. The conflict has left some 220,000 dead and 5.3 million displaced, according to official figures.

In the 80s, a previous attempt at dialogue was possible to achieve a cease-fire FARC, imitated by the government of Belisario Betancur at that time. But a wave of assassinations against far-left activists had an abortion experience.

Director Cerac, Colombian school specializing in the conflict, Jorge Restrepo emphasized that the current proposal FARC is of diabolical side forcing the government to respond to this gesture of peace . According to this expert, the government could find a way out by announcing a suspension of offensive operations against the Farc. This would not be a bilateral cease-fire, for example the government would not have to leave his troops in the barracks, or waive the military operations of territorial control , he continues.