The FARC’s S.O.S

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File photo of the FARC's senior negotiators in Havana, Cuba.
File photo of the FARC's senior negotiators in Havana, Cuba.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) sent out a message Tuesday from the negotiating table in Havana, Cuba, in which they questioned the extent the Colombian Government is willing to adhere to a bilateral ceasefire.

Since announcing a unilateral and indefinite cessation of hostilities on December 20th, the continents’ oldest guerrilla force currently in talks with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, stated in an official communiqué  that “the warmongers have continued in their efforts to sabotage the unilateral ceasefire and peace process,” threatening that – at any given moment – they could resume attacks against the state’s security forces.

The FARC have insisted that since the Christmas truce was enacted, the country’s military offensive has intensified against them with the deployment of troops “accompanied by bombings, landings and assaults.” The guerrilla’s missive makes no mention of presumed attacks by their rank and file against the army this month, including an ambush near Tame, in Arauca, in which 13 soldiers were killed.

In the letter titled ‘S.O.S for truce’ the FARC’s senior negotiators directly address Santos stating that “in the midst of a process that seeks reconciliation, it is inconsistent to restart the attacks on the economic infrastructure of the state,” and they assert that the unilateral ceasefire is “becoming increasingly untenable.”

Even though Santos has stated that a possible bilateral ceasefire is on the cards, the head of state has not advanced with offering an official date, stating only that the FARC truce has been a move “in the right direction.” In a recent televised address to the nation, President Santos stated that peace was closer than ever and it was time “to de-escalate the intensity of the conflict.”

But for the FARC in Havana, Santos’ good intentions are not being followed up with a precise agenda, rather an opportunity “to take military advantage” which could, in their words “wither the hope of peace.”

While the guerrilla negotiators in Havana have expressed dismay at the lack of action on a bilateral ceasefire, Venezuela’s socialist president Nicólas Maduro warned that relations between Colombia and his country were reaching a low point, especially after Colombia broke with its silence to urge the release of Venezuela’s jailed opposition leader, Leopoldo López.

Last week, Colombia’s former president Andrés Pastrana, who also tried to forge a peace with the FARC during his Conservative administration (1998-2002) joined Chile’s Sebastian Piñera in an attempt to visit López in jail with the help of López’s wife, Lilian Tintori. Maduro quickly asserted that the visit of the ex-presidents to Caracas was part of a coup to overthrow his government and destabilize Venezuela. Pastrana went on the state that “Venezuela was a sanctuary of FARC.”

As oil prices fall and Venezuela grapples with runaway inflation, widespread food shortages and a deteriorating infrastructure, Maduro’s remarks may fall on deaf ears, especially as the FARC in Havana have been witness to the historic rapprochement between the United States – Colombia’s most staunch ally – and Cuba.

And after months of silence, Cuba’s 88 year-old leader, Fidel Castro, wrote a letter to the Cuban people Wednesday regarding the restoration of diplomatic relations, throwing his support to a peaceful resolution but remaining “distrustful of American politics.”

While U.S – Cuba relations advance at an historic pace, the FARC’s S.O.S letter seems more of a plea to end the conflict in at home quickly, than a mandate to return to arms. The “odd man out” in this regional game of political shuffeboard appears now to be a recalcitrant Maduro.

 

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