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Colombia lifts arrest warrants against FARC dissidents ahead of talks

Colombia’s Public Ministry has suspended arrest warrants against key members of one of the largest FARC dissident groups still active in the country, as President Gustavo Petro’s government prepares for peace talks with criminal groups, the agency announced on Monday. fair (13).

The government’s “total peace” plan calls for criminal groups to negotiate with the Colombian state in exchange for various legal benefits, including amnesty for certain crimes, partial suspension of some arrest warrants and reduced sentences.

The government initiative targets several of the country’s main criminal groups, including drug cartels, far-right paramilitary groups and left-wing guerrillas.

Monday’s announcement includes 19 senior commanders of the Central General Staff of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including members who violated the 2016 peace accord signed between the Colombian state and the FARC in Havana.

The FARC, once the Western Hemisphere’s biggest guerrilla group, formally demobilized after the 2016 deal. The group founded a political party in 2017.

However, several top brass have rejected civilian life and returned to armed struggle over the past six years.

Opening negotiations with criminal groups was one of Petro’s boldest promises as the 2022 presidential candidate.

Since the president took office, the government has begun formal negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN), another leftist guerrilla group, and is considering granting political status to Clan del Golfo, Colombia’s largest drug cartel.

“A second peace process begins. A table will be established between the government and the Central General Staff (FARC)”, Petro published on Twitter this Monday shortly after the attorney general’s announcement.

Members of the FARC’s Central General Staff did not immediately comment on the announcement.



Source: CNN Brasil

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