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Prisoner Swap Agreement with FARC Ready: Colombian President
The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest rebel group in the country, will reach an agreement on the "humanitarian" exchange of imprisoned rebels for the soldiers and policemen taken hostage by FARC, President Andres Pastrana said Monday.
"We keep on working, though each step is different, but we have scored great achievements with FARC. We are on a negotiating board, we have an agenda, and are considering the possibility of a humanitarian accord," Pastrana said.
FARC, which controls about 40 percent of Colombia, has kept prisoner some 450 soldiers and police officers. Recently, it proposed releasing the captives in exchange for 350 jailed rebels, which had been turned down by the government.
This month, the proposal was taken up by the government who hopes to restart stalled peace talks with the rebels.
Last Saturday, the National Liberation Army (ELN), the second largest rebel group in Colombia, released 30 policemen, 10 soldiers and two detectives after two weeks of informal talks in Cuba with representatives of the Colombian government.
Pastrana underscored the ELN's peace gesture of releasing 42 hostages, and said there was meaningful progress in talks with the ELN on the creation of a "meeting zone" in Bolivar, a northwestern state of Colombia, which would allow conversations between the rebels and representatives of civil society.
He indicated that the government would present on Tuesday to the communities of Bolivar the draft agreement on the establishment of the meeting zone.
"Next Tuesday there will be a meeting with representatives of the region, for the government wants to consult with these communities on the draft, which will eventually be discussed with the ELN," said the president.
He said the draft agreement contains the regulation of the zone, which includes the presence of civil authorities, such as the General Attorney's Office, the Office of People's Defense, as well as the creation of a national and international verification commission.
The accord must have the support of the inhabitants of the zone, as some of them are opposed to the project for fear it would result in mounting violence, he added.
Celso Martinez, leader of the ASOCIPAZ, a regional organization covering the interests of different social sectors in the region where the peace process between the government and the ELN is taking place, said the meeting zone must be a result of consensus among the communities.
Martinez said the ELN's goodwill gesture was not enough yet for demilitarization, which is required for the peace process, in wide regions of the states of Bolivar and Antioquia, where the ELN is active.
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