Colombia President Santos offers truce with Farc
Colombia President Santos offers truce with Farc
28 October 2015
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said that he wants to enter into a bilateral truce with the Farc rebel group on 1 January 2016.
Despite having been engaged in peace talks with the left-wing rebels for almost three years, the government had always refused to declare a ceasefire.
The Farc, who have been observing a unilateral ceasefire, have repeatedly called on the government to join them in the truce. The conflict started in 1964.
Next step
Speaking at a public event promoting science, Mr Santos called on the Farc and government negotiators "to make the effort so between now and 31 December we can wrap up the fifth point [on the peace agenda], which is how to end the conflict, so that we can declare an internationally monitored bilateral ceasefire from 1 January".
More:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-34661146
