23.09.2024, Bogota.
The Colombian government and the leadership of the insurgent Colombian organization Segunda Marquetalia agreed to hold a second round of peace negotiations in October in Havana, Prensa Latina wrote on September 23, citing official sources.
The talks are scheduled for the third week of October.
Luis Alfonso Escobar, governor of the southern Colombian department of Nariño, explained that the decision was made by delegations from both sides during the Peace Meeting held in Tumaco on September 21 and 22. In connection with the upcoming continuation of negotiations in the Cuban capital, Colombian media report the invitation of Segunda Marquetalia leader Iván Márquez, who previously split from the now-dissolved Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP).
Prensa Latina recalls that at least 200 delegates attended the Peace Meeting. Among them were community leaders, peasants, representatives of indigenous peoples, and people of African descent, as well as peace advisor to the Colombian commissioner, Otty Patiño, and director of the Colombian Agency for Reintegration and Normalization, Alejandra Miller.
Previously, Segunda Marquetalia and the government had announced their intention to start negotiations on February 9, 2024.
Segunda Marquetalia emerged in 2019 when Iván Márquez and other former participants of the 2016 Peace Agreement returned to guerrilla life, believing that many points of the agreement were not being implemented by the government of former Colombian President Iván Duque.
On September 17, after an insurgent attack on a military base in the department of Arauca, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the cessation of prolonged negotiations with the largest insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
