Colombia: Peace Delegations Meet With Dissidents In The Southwest Of The Country

The peace delegations of the Colombian government and the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest dissidence of the former FARC, will meet from Thursday until Sunday to move "towards the installation of the negociations table."

This was reported this Wednesday by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, which detailed in a statement that the meeting will be held in a rural area of the Suárez municipality, in the troubled department of Cauca (southwest), "within the framework of the phase of enlistment for the negociations table" .

This meeting "will be closed and confidential, and will be attended by international witnesses, the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches," the information added.

What will be discussed?

It is important to clarify that this is not yet a negotiating table. This meeting between the government delegations and the dissidents is just a meeting to discuss the possibility of a negotiation table.

According to the Government, among the topics to be discussed "an agreement will be made at the beginning of the meeting with the manifest purpose of reaching basic definitions that allow progress with adjustments to the protocols of respect for the civilian population, of a ceasefire, and towards the installation of the Table of Conversations".

Also read: What is New about this Pact Between the Colombian Government and the ELN Compared to Previous Ones?

The EMC is commanded by alias "Iván Mordisco" and the government is working with this group to start a peace negotiation process with the Colombian government within the framework of the total peace policy promoted by Gustavo Petro.

The panorama between the Colombian government and the EMC

Although initially steps were taken towards this dialogue, the relationship between this guerrilla and the Government cooled down after a series of attacks by the dissidence.

In addition, the Government and the EMC achieved a ceasefire that lasted for the first six months of this year, and that they will now seek to renew at a dialogue table, for which there is no date yet.

After an increase in EMC attacks in recent weeks in various areas of the country, such as the department of Cauca, President Petro said this month that negotiations with armed groups in the country should start from the cessation of hostilities against civilians.