Colombia's FARC Rebels: No Truce for Elections
Colombia's FARC guerrilla movement said Friday it would not observe a ceasefire during legislative elections next month unless the government also agreed to a truce.
President Juan Manuel Santos has repeatedly rejected rebel calls for a bilateral ceasefire, arguing that the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) would use it to regroup.
The rebels, who have been in peace talks with the government since November 2012, have twice observed self-imposed ceasefires, most recently during the year-end holidays.
But Andres Paris, a FARC delegate to the talks in Havana, said there were no plans for a unilateral ceasefire during the March 9 elections.
"We are ready to institute a bilateral ceasefire," he said.
The legislative elections will be an important test for Santos, who is seeking a second term in subsequent presidential polls on May 25.
Among those running for the Senate next month is conservative former president Alvaro Uribe, a vehement opponent of the peace process who considers Santos' pursuit of a pact with the FARC a "betrayal."
Santos served as Uribe's defense minister during a 2002-2010 presidency that delivered major military setbacks to the FARC.
Santos believes the military successes created conditions for a negotiated peace in the 50-year-old conflict, while Uribe contends it has given the FARC a political platform.
Source: Agence France Presse
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