Dissidents refuse to continue with dialogues without ceasefire

The Central General Staff (EMC), the main dissident of the FARC, assured this Monday, through one of its war fronts, that if the Colombian Government does not reestablish the bilateral ceasefire, the dialogues will not continue.

“We believe that the only possibility of moving forward is to declare a bilateral ceasefire at the national level and to look for mechanisms to establish a negotiating table that represents the entire Farian unity,” said a dissident from the Eastern Joint Command, which operates in the east of the country.

The Colombian government suspended the bilateral ceasefire in the departments of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca last month in response to attacks against an indigenous community that left one leader murdered and two injured.

The Government assured that this measure did not affect the dialogues, which began last year with this dissident group led by ‘Iván Mordisco’, a former FARC leader who did not sign the peace agreement.

However, the EMC has asked the Government on several occasions to reestablish this measure and even threatened to attack military and police positions.

Now, in this new announcement, the dissidents allege: “due to the Government’s non-compliance, unfortunately it has not been possible to continue the dialogues when there is a breakdown of the unilateral ceasefire by the national Government.”

This same Monday, the Prosecutor’s Office reported that since the ceasefire was lifted, the Colombian authorities have captured 68 alleged FARC dissidents, and that in these 20 days they have seized more than 80 firearms, 15,650 units of ammunition different calibers, 285 suppliers, among other elements.

The dissidents denounced today that, although the measure was established for three departments, the military forces are attacking EMC units throughout the country, so the Government’s orders are not reaching the military ranks.