On Wednesday, after a nearly two-week recess, the Colombian government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) resumed peace talks in Havana, Cuba, with this ninth round seeking to reach an agreement on agrarian reform. Talks originally began in November 2012.
Only the first of five items on the agenda at the talks, agrarian reform is one of the most controversial. The negotiations have been delayed twice as the two parties have struggled to agree on methods for land redistribution and restitution. Discussions around agrarian reform also seek to address plans for rural development as well as infrastructure and land improvement. Other topics include promoting agricultural production and establishing a social security system for rural areas to include health care, education, housing, and poverty eradication. The current round of talks is scheduled to continue through May 25.
In addition to agrarian reform, talks must still find compromise on four other agenda items: ensuring political participation of members of the rebel group, combatting drug trafficking, ending armed conflict, and compensating victims of conflict.
The talks resume just a day after President Juan Manuel Santos called on negotiators to speed up the negotiations, which were initially expected to conclude by November 2013. On Tuesday, Santos also urged the rebels to disarm, stating that, ultimately, no peace agreement could be reached otherwise.
Fighting has continued in Colombia since the negotiators last met. A member of the FARC leadership, Leonidas Zambrano Cardozo, also known as “Caliche,” was killed in a clash with soldiers in southwest Colombia on May 4 and clashes between the FARC and Colombian police throughout the country on Tuesday left five FARC members and a police officer dead.
