Just when the peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) saw light at the end of the tunnel, that progress suffered a major setback when at least 10 soldiers were killed late Tuesday night in what the government said was an attack by the FARC.
Following the unilateral ceasefire declared on December 20 between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas and Colombian Military forces, the peace process suffered a major setback when at least 11 Soldiers were killed late Tuesday night in an attack the government said was carried out by the FARC.
On the night of April 14, a group of well-armed attackers, allegedly from the Miller Perdomo column of the FARC, ambushed a Platoon of Colombian Soldiers in La Esperanza, Cauca Department, in the country’s north. The assailants attacked with grenades, gunfire, and explosive devices. In addition to the 11 Soldiers who were killed, the attackers injured another 18 Soldiers. Troops returned fire, and a FARC member was killed in the battle.
“Those who reacted in time were the ones that survived,” said Soldier Luis Humberto Hoyos, a member of the Mobile Brigade 17 Apolo Task Force of the Army, which was the target of the attack.
Hoyos described how the night of terror began around 11 p.m. as Troops were spending the night at the coliseum. The Soldiers’ sleep was suddenly interrupted by by explosions and bursts of gunfire.
“Most of those who lost their lives were not able to react, died instantly,” Hoyos, dressed in muddy clothes, said the day after the assault as he met with Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón at a Mobile Brigade 17 outpost in the village of Potrerito, near the scene of the attack.
The outburst of violence may threaten what had been promising developments in the peace process. On December 20, the FARC declared a unilateral and indefinite ceasefire and promised to stop recruiting fighters under 17 years of age. The government and the FARC agreed to work together to find and destroy the thousands of land mines that have killed more than 11,000 civilians, including 1,100 children, during five decades of armed conflict.
President orders the Armed Forces to respond
President Juan Manuel Santos decried the “deliberate attack” by the FARC and, within a few hours of the assault, ordered the Military to resume bombing guerrilla encampments. By ordering the bombardments, Santos lifted a ban he imposed in March to go in line with the peace talks and extended just a week before the attack.
“This implies a clear break of the unilateral cease-fire pledge,” President Santos said in a televised news conference. “This is a reprehensible action that will not remain unpunished and demands decisive measures, and it will have consequences for those involved.”
However, President Santos did not walk out of the peace negotiations. Instead, he said that “acts of this nature and seriousness demonstrate once more the need to accelerate the negotiations to put an end to this conflict.”
The FARC called the attack a serious but isolated incident, and said it would continue to participate in the peace talks.
The deadly attack complicates the ongoing peace talks.
“It is a blow to trust in the peace process,” said Jorge Iván Cuervo, a researcher at the Center for Research and Special Projects (CIPE) of the Externado University of Colombia.. “A trust that is quite shabby. This contributes to undermine the negotiations and reduce the confidence of President Santos to continue the dialogue. In political terms it is a pretty hard blow to the peace process.”
Impact on the peace talks
While the peace talks will continue, their tone will no doubt be impacted by the deadly ambush.
“What it will change is the feeling around the time in the talks,” Cuervo explained. “There are two critical variables in the peace talks: trust and time. The trust has deteriorated, and with respect to time, people ask how long will this take?”
“In northern Cauca, specifically in the municipality of Buenos Aires there are activities related to illegal mining and smuggling routes, and the logic and dynamics that occur at this time in the Cauca are very distant from what is happening in Havana,” Cuervo said. “Once the attack is a fact the FARC can’t say that they have nothing to do with it.”
The “complex” peace process will not be resolved “overnight,” the security analyst explained. He noted that successful peace talks in other parts of the world, such as those in Ireland, have taken years to bear fruit.
Following the unilateral ceasefire declared on December 20 between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas and Colombian Military forces, the peace process suffered a major setback when at least 11 Soldiers were killed late Tuesday night in an attack the government said was carried out by the FARC.
On the night of April 14, a group of well-armed attackers, allegedly from the Miller Perdomo column of the FARC, ambushed a Platoon of Colombian Soldiers in La Esperanza, Cauca Department, in the country’s north. The assailants attacked with grenades, gunfire, and explosive devices. In addition to the 11 Soldiers who were killed, the attackers injured another 18 Soldiers. Troops returned fire, and a FARC member was killed in the battle.
“Those who reacted in time were the ones that survived,” said Soldier Luis Humberto Hoyos, a member of the Mobile Brigade 17 Apolo Task Force of the Army, which was the target of the attack.
Hoyos described how the night of terror began around 11 p.m. as Troops were spending the night at the coliseum. The Soldiers’ sleep was suddenly interrupted by by explosions and bursts of gunfire.
“Most of those who lost their lives were not able to react, died instantly,” Hoyos, dressed in muddy clothes, said the day after the assault as he met with Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón at a Mobile Brigade 17 outpost in the village of Potrerito, near the scene of the attack.
The outburst of violence may threaten what had been promising developments in the peace process. On December 20, the FARC declared a unilateral and indefinite ceasefire and promised to stop recruiting fighters under 17 years of age. The government and the FARC agreed to work together to find and destroy the thousands of land mines that have killed more than 11,000 civilians, including 1,100 children, during five decades of armed conflict.
President orders the Armed Forces to respond
President Juan Manuel Santos decried the “deliberate attack” by the FARC and, within a few hours of the assault, ordered the Military to resume bombing guerrilla encampments. By ordering the bombardments, Santos lifted a ban he imposed in March to go in line with the peace talks and extended just a week before the attack.
“This implies a clear break of the unilateral cease-fire pledge,” President Santos said in a televised news conference. “This is a reprehensible action that will not remain unpunished and demands decisive measures, and it will have consequences for those involved.”
However, President Santos did not walk out of the peace negotiations. Instead, he said that “acts of this nature and seriousness demonstrate once more the need to accelerate the negotiations to put an end to this conflict.”
The FARC called the attack a serious but isolated incident, and said it would continue to participate in the peace talks.
The deadly attack complicates the ongoing peace talks.
“It is a blow to trust in the peace process,” said Jorge Iván Cuervo, a researcher at the Center for Research and Special Projects (CIPE) of the Externado University of Colombia.. “A trust that is quite shabby. This contributes to undermine the negotiations and reduce the confidence of President Santos to continue the dialogue. In political terms it is a pretty hard blow to the peace process.”
Impact on the peace talks
While the peace talks will continue, their tone will no doubt be impacted by the deadly ambush.
“What it will change is the feeling around the time in the talks,” Cuervo explained. “There are two critical variables in the peace talks: trust and time. The trust has deteriorated, and with respect to time, people ask how long will this take?”
“In northern Cauca, specifically in the municipality of Buenos Aires there are activities related to illegal mining and smuggling routes, and the logic and dynamics that occur at this time in the Cauca are very distant from what is happening in Havana,” Cuervo said. “Once the attack is a fact the FARC can’t say that they have nothing to do with it.”
The “complex” peace process will not be resolved “overnight,” the security analyst explained. He noted that successful peace talks in other parts of the world, such as those in Ireland, have taken years to bear fruit.
Is living in harmony with others the best choice or not? Awful The Colombian people take this opportunity to request the President of the Republic of Colombia to step down, Mr. Juan Manuel Santos who was unfortunately reelected. It is shameful that he continues to occupy that borrowed post. The Colombian armed forces are offering the guerrilla fighters protection and status for a better societal and financial life. Turn yourself in, your life will be respected, you who never respected the lives of Colombian soldiers. The peace is the way. THE FARC HAS A FEW LOOSE WHEELS. THAT’S DANGEROUS. Everyone has the right to be happy. What I’m looking for isn’t here Good afternoon I am requesting help, please, for my son. He was admitted into the Kennedy Hospital on May 3rd at 11:00 p.m. with the following symptoms: sunken ribs, lots of congestion. My son urgently needs an operation to take out his tonsils which are very big, keeping him from being able to eat almost or to breathe. The ear, nose and throat doctor Mauricio Monje wants me to take my son home. He says he cannot do anything else for my child because he has not shown any improvement and rather has tried to go into respiratory arrest and he has sleep apnea. If I take my son home, who is going to help me? Please if you could help me my number is 3204431967 Diana Esmeralda Bueno Hernandez. I BEG YOU TO HELP ME SINCE MY SON IS JUST 2 YEARS OLD. It’s said that all that’s talked about is violence. How are we supposed to achieve peace when all that’s inculcated in war and violence all the time?
There are no other subjects on social networks or the media except for violence. There are interesting, valuable and worthy subjects in our country, Colombia, which we all need to know about, but sadly the government has become a monopoly which manipulates us however it wants to. I don’t like it I don’t need this The peace talks are a distraction for Colombians. The FARC is divided. Those who are in our territory don’t get along with the negotiators n Cuba and the FARC negotiators in Havana are looking for personal benefits because they have no trade in Colombia. They can the years – and they want financial bonuses and to live in other countries. The negotiations should be held in our own territory and that way no one escapes and we go straight to the point, quick broadcasting, release kidnapping victims and be accountable for so many people missing because of the FARC. THERE IS AN UNDERCURRENT OF DECEPTION and the President should not fall into this trap because in truth we the Colombians are the ones affected. PRESIDENT! Don’t be fooled, the ones in HAVANA are one group; the ones in COLOMBIA ARE ANOTHER. Latin America will not see full progress or peace until the FARC and all nuclei remnants of the radical left on the continent are destroyed first. These forces receive covert support from almost all the leftist governments that have plagued us for decades and remain on standby until countries reach a “breaking point”. In order to get rid of these nuclei, we need to put down the “Gramsci maniacs”, who thrive in universities, trade unions and among students – these tireless and persistent indoctrinators, who aim to turn Latin America into the “Great Homeland”, a Communist agglomerate headed by Fidel Castro and his cohorts in their respective governments. The Armed Forces in each country are slowly and covertly being appeased, their honour deceived, icons vilified, equipment scrapped and indoctrination occurring in training schools. If we fail to react in time, the martyrdom of the Russians, Eastern Europe, Cuba and North Korea will be repeated under the command of this clan from the 21st century onward. Wake up!