Bogotá, August 25 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), has concluded a four-day visit to Colombia Monday and spoke with optimism that the ongoing peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would reach a successful conclusion. 

“We believe this negotiation process, which has a clear objective, is going to achieve the results the government has planned,” said Almagro upon the conclusion of his visit to the South American country.

Since 2004, the OAS has been supporting the efforts to achieve peace in Colombia through an initiative known as the Mission to Support the Peace Process or MAPP.

Almagro said that Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was supportive and grateful for the job done by the MAPP.

The Colombian government has been holding formal peace discussions with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, since late 2012 in peace negotiations that have progressed further than other recent efforts to end the more than five-decade-long conflict, which has left over 220,000 people dead and millions of people affected.
    
In addition to his meetings with Santos, the secretary-general met with Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin and the Minister of Justice Yesid Reyes, as well as with victims of the conflict.

In a press release, Almagro said that lasting peace would require special attention paid to the re-integration of demobilized combatants, the implementation of transitional justice and needs of victims affected by the armed conflict. Almagro said the MAPP would lend its expertise to these topics to help support the peace process. 

The FARC and Colombian government are in the midst of the 40th round of negotiations being held in Havana, Cuba and reached partial agreements on three of five agenda topics.