Bogotá, October 12 (RHC-EFE)-- FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias “Timochenko,” said on Saturday the guerrilla group should suspend its recruiting because of the progress being made in peace talks with the Colombian government, and said that the subject is currently being discussed. “At this point of the process and its evolution, I believe we should suspend recruiting,” Londoño said on his Twitter account. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Timochenko had a historic meeting in Havana on Sept. 23, during which they agreed on a maximum period of six months to sign a peace treaty and announce a system of transitional law. The FARC leader added on Twitter that an end to recruiting “is not for me to decide” and added that “we are discussing it.” At the end of last month, Timochenko ordered the guerrilla units to suspend their courses of military training and turn instead to political and cultural training. The FARC announced last February in Havana that it will not accept into its ranks volunteers less than 17 years old. A book published last year by Bogota’s Sergio Arboleda University said that 47 percent of FARC rebels were recruited as children.
