Havana, Mar 29, (RHC) -- The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group Friday hailed a Colombian government proposal to reestablish a national peace commission to aid peace talks between the two sides.

"Any measure aimed at promoting the propping up of the peace process and the search for a political solution is welcome," FARC delegate Jorge Torres Victoria said in Havana, Cuba, where the rebel group and the government have been holding talks since November 2012.

The proposal made by President Juan Manuel Santos would resurrect an earlier commission set up during the presidency of Ernesto Samper (1994-1998).

The rebels recommended the commission include community and grassroots leaders, to avoid being solely "integrated by elite politicians that are not going to contribute to finding solutions, but only to obstruct things."

Regarding the ongoing peace talks, Torres said the two sides were "making progress with optimism."

The talks mark the latest attempt between the leftist rebels and the government to put an end to five decades of fighting that has left 220,000 people dead and displaced 4 million people.