Colombian peace talks to begin in October in Norway
by Helen Murphy

Reuters    Translate This Article
4 September 2012

* Negotiations to start in Oslo, then go to Havana

* Leftist FARC rebels have fought for five decades

* Santos seeks to do better than past failed negotiations

BOGOTA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The Colombian government's peace talks with FARC rebels to try to end Latin America's longest-running insurgency will begin next month in Norway before moving to Cuba, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Tuesday.

Unlike past failed negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, however, there will be no ceasefire this time, Santos said in a national TV address.

'I ask the Colombian people for patience and strength,' Santos said. 'There's no doubt it's time to turn the page.'

While Colombians are hopeful Santos will succeed, he faces a monumental task attempting peace with the FARC, which has holed up in Colombia's jungle territory since 1964 and imposed tough demands in past peace negotiations.

Santos, 61, who is at the mid-point of a four-year term, had repeatedly said he would consider talks with the FARC only if he was certain the drug-funded group would negotiate in good faith.

'There are people like me that don't know a single day of peace,' said Santos. 'We have to take the dream of living in peace and make it a reality.'

The FARC comes to peace talks this time from a severely weakened position. Battered by a decade-long U.S.-backed Colombian military offensive, the rebels have lost as much as half their fighting force, reducing their ability to launch major attacks on the government.

Still, they are by no means spent and in recent months have stepped up assaults on economic infrastructure like oil and mining installations in a bid, some analysts say, to come to the negotiating table from a position of relative strength.

Santos said Venezuela and Chile would support the talks and that would take place 'without interruptions,' although they would end if there were no advances.

Critics of the peace process are worried the rebels could use the time to build strength and prolong the war.

Former President Alvaro Uribe, a constant critic of Santos who has accused him of pandering to 'terrorists,' described the talks as 'grave.'

'The government has arrived at this dialogue from a position of weakness and terrorism from a position of resurgent strength,' said Uribe, who was once a close ally of Santos. 'Security has deteriorated significantly in the last two years.'

LAND REFORM

In 1999, former President Andres Pastrana ceded the FARC a safe haven the size of Switzerland to promote talks. The rebels took advantage of the breathing space to train fighters, build more than 25 airstrips to fly drug shipments and set up prison camps to hold its hostages.

Santos has been laying the groundwork for peace since he took office, creating a land reform that would help return land stolen by FARC and paramilitary groups.

He also pushed through a constitutional reform that set the legal basis for eventual peace with the rebels. The reform prohibits guerrilla leaders accused of crimes against humanity from holding political office.

The choice of Norway and Cuba as venues, plus Venezuela and Chile as support countries, provide an ideological mix intended to make both sides feel comfortable with the process.

Norway is well known for its international mediation work, while Cuba and Venezuela are run by socialist governments with whom the FARC feel political affinity. Chile's conservative government is an ally of Bogota.

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