PEACE TALKS IN HAVANA -Colombian Guerrilla Backs Proposal for Bilateral Ceasefire

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 19 (ACN) Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC-EP) baked a proposal for a bilateral ceasefire issued by former minister Alvaro Leyva Duran, a guerrilla spokesperson announced Tuesday in Havana.

The proposal by the ex-minister, also a former presidential candidate, was published on the El Nuevo Siglo newspaper. The initiative calls for a bilateral and true ceasefire that stops the bloodshed in the country, even more, when a peace dialog is underway between the guerrilla and the Colombian government.

The proposal includes the verification of the ceasefire by an international commission.

A ceasefire would constitute an important step to show the two parties’ willingness to achieve peace, said guerrilla commander Ivan Marquez in a communiqué he read on Tuesday in Havana, venue of the peace talks.

Marquez said that the country must agree with the former minister and he noted that the bombardments will not help submit the guerrilla at the bargaining table.

On January 20, the guerrilla resumed offensive actions after two months of a unilateral ceasefire they declared after the opening of negotiations last November.

After taking their unilateral step, the guerrilla unsuccessfully insisted that the Juan Manuel Santos government join the ceasefire to create a favorable environment for the peace talks.

The dialog between the Colombian government and the guerrilla aims at ending a social and armed conflict that has hit the South American nation for over five decades.

SOURCE: Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:39 pm (PST) . Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" walterlx Colombian Guerrilla Backs Proposal for Bilateral Ceasefire