Colombia Peace Talks Resume in Havana Today - JULY 1 2013

Havana, Jul 1 (Prensa Latina)
 The conversations seeking peace in Colombia are resumed in this capital today, which for more than seven months has hosted talks between representatives from the government and the insurgency.

Political Participation, the second item on the agenda agreed between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP), will be discussed since today face to face between the parties, after that they decided to do it separately during the last days.

Before, both delegations received proposals and initiatives that many figures and organizations did in Colombia during citizen forums organized in that country on the subject that will be discussed since today.

FARC-EP delegate Pablo Catatumbo told Prensa Latina that the proposal for a Constituent Assembly to promote the changes that South American nation needs was discussed in those forums.

"It would be a Constituent Assembly for Peace, a treaty in which citizenship is expressed even in those items, in which we could not reach an agreement in the negotiation table," the guerrilla commander said.

He said that the Constituent is not a condition of the FARC to continue the dialogue in Havana. "It is a proposal which, incidentally, has been hotly debated in Colombia, so that the government delegation should take it into account," he noted.

On the other hand, Attorney General of Colombia, Alejandro Ordoñez, urged June 28 the government of President Juan Manuel Santos to suspend peace talks with the FARC in Havana, if the guerrillas insist on a Constituent Assembly.

Previously, in his statements to Prensa Latina, Pablo Catatumbo stressed that the roundtable discussions have two opposing views, particularly on the subject under discussion since today at the Conference Center in Havana, permanent venue of the peace talks.

The end of armed conflict in Colombia is only possible when the parties reach agreements that facilitate the political participation of grassroots and democratic sectors, and there are guarantees that the State will not further appeal to political crime, he stated.

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Modificado el ( lunes, 01 de julio de 2013 )

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WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews