Bogota, January 2 (teleSUR-RHC)-- The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has denounced a series of hostile acts by the national army, which puts the fragile peace process between the parties at risk.
In a statement issued from Havana, where senior representatives are involved in peace talks with the Colombian government, the FARC says army movements have been spotted in guerrilla-held areas – particularly in the region of Cauca, where Colombian soldier Carlos Becerra Ojeda, was recently released by the rebels.
On December 24th and 25th, various guerrilla fronts of the FARC reported bombing offensives, landings and increased troop presence and "were directed to act with the utmost restraint, seeking to not initiate combat."
"We alert the general public, political movements, and organizations in charge of the verification of these provocative troop deployments, that these situations are created by those who seek to generate conflict to then accuse the FARC of violating the ceasefire" states the document.
The rebel group say that while all fronts remain on defensive alert, it hopes "not to have to make decisions that endanger our resolve for an indefinite unilateral ceasefire". The group announced the ceasefire in December.
In the New Year's greeting, the FARC says that Colombia must seize the moment to end the half-century-long conflict, which has left some 6.8 million Colombians victims of the war.
"The continent is currently being embraced by a spirit of harmony. That's what the winds of peace blowing between Havana and Washington confirmed."
Likening Washington's failed policy toward Cuba to the Colombian government's failed war against armed rebels, the FARC writes, "in Colombia, reality shows us every day that half a century of war against those who resist inequality and poverty, has also failed.
"The time has come, then, to silence the bullets and bombs, time to change the discourse, to change the warmongering language, giving flight to the power of speech in setting the scene for the only battle is that of ideas.
"The voice of harmony is the voice of reason, we invite skeptics and opponents to discuss their concerns with us, to share their insights constructively, together ... for the good of the majority and the fate of the nation."
