Havana, February 25 (RHC) -- The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group said on Monday that military spying has negatively affected the ongoing peace negotiations with the government.

"We begin this new cycle of peace talks with deep distrust as a result of the absurd espionage by Colombian military intelligence and police," FARC delegation member Pablo Catatumbo said upon resuming negotiations on Monday in Havana. The FARC also condemned Sunday's attack on the campaign convoy of Aida Avella, who is a presidential candidate of the leftist Patriotic Union party.

The peace talks, aimed at ending five decades of armed conflict between the government and the armed leftist rebels, began in November 2012.

The two sides have already discussed agrarian reform and land redistribution, and the rebels' participation in politics once they disarm.