Caracas, Capital District, Venezuela - June 24, 2024

A new round of negotiations has begun in Venezuela between the Colombian government and the Second Marquetalia, a dissidence of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, which reneged on the historic peace agreement signed in 2016 and took up arms again in 2019.

"Making progress in de-escalating the conflict".
In Caracas this Monday, the participating delegations met with the three countries serving as accompaniers: Venezuela, Cuba and Norway. The first cycle of talks will be between 25 and 29 June, to define the protocols of the negotiation and "the first decisions on measures and actions to contribute to progress in the de-escalation of the conflict," according to a communique read by the parties.

"The success of peace and the dialogues that are beginning require a strong cohesion of the parties on the road to a political solution and their willingness to refrain from actions that undermine mutual trust," the joint statement of 24 June said.

The commander of the Second Marquetalia, alias Ivan Marquez, attended in person. He had been in hiding since 2022 after an attack that allegedly left him seriously wounded. There he said that the group he heads "has every disposition to contribute to the common achievement of peace for Colombia". "We know very well that the country is torn between political, economic and social forces that refuse to give in to reform and redefinition of its historic regime of privileges," he said.

Armando Novoa, who leads the Colombian government's negotiating team, stressed that the negotiation "cannot start from scratch", recalling the validity of the 2016 agreement. For this reason, one of the points to be discussed will be to define the legal treatment that would be given to repeat offenders who, according to these current rules, would not be able to obtain judicial benefits.

SHOTLIST:
1. (SOUNDBITE, Spanish) Armando Novoa, head of the Colombian government delegation:
"This process, which should be supported by Colombian society, must involve the local authorities, their communities and of course also the national government".