At the request of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s public prosecutor’s office has announced the suspension of 19 arrest warrants against FARC dissidents.
“I decided today to suspend these arrest warrants,” Attorney General Francisco Barbosa said at an event in Chía, a neighboring municipality of Bogotá.
The guerrillas will be “recognized as representatives of the self-proclaimed Central General Staff [EMC]”, the largest dissident faction (about 2,00 fighters), to talk to the government, Barbosa added.
This aims to start peace negotiations with this group that did not accept the agreement in 2016.
At least ten people have been killed in clashes between ELN and FARC dissidents in Colombia
Through a statement, the prosecution explained that on February 9, Petro issued a resolution requesting the suspension of arrest warrants for 20 people to approach the national government. A week later, the Public Prosecution Service asked him whether 11 of these people were part of these irregular groups.
On March 8, Petro’s response was received giving his reasons, although he excluded Javier Alonso Veloza García, aka Jhon Mechas.
Finally, arrest warrants were suspended for:
The government has not announced when it will sit down with the dissidents of the Central General Staff, whose operation spans much of the country’s 32 departments, particularly in the Amazon, the Pacific and the Venezuelan border. .
According to independent calculations, the EMC has more than 2,000 fighters and the number is growing. Most of the FARC (7,000 guerrillas) were demobilized in 2017.
Petro celebrated the start of a “second peace process” in Colombia following the suspension of arrest warrants.
“A second peace process is beginning. A table will be formed between the government and the Central General Staff,” the most powerful group of dissidents who have not laid down arms from the 2016 peace process, the left-wing president wrote on Twitter, who has been negotiating since late last year. year with National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels.
Source: Eluniverso
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