U.S. Says Doing 'All We Can' to Help Colombian Peace Process

The United States is committed to the peace process being negotiated between the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas and will do everything in its power to help talks succeed, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday.

His comments come a day after peace negotiators traded accusations over a clash that left 11 soldiers and two rebels dead last week.

"We've seen in recent days the effort to establish a lasting peace is not easy," Kerry said during a speech at the State Department.

"The U.S., we will do all that we can to help the Colombians achieve that peace."

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been in talks in Havana since November 2012 in a bid to end more than five decades of conflict that have killed more than 200,000 people.

Kerry said that Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos had "placed high priority on negotiating a peaceful end to this conflict, and the U.S. is fully supportive of this effort."

Santos was booed Monday for the second time in as many days by protesters who are against the peace process.

"Colombia is a country on the move, it has come an enormous distance in the last couple of decades," Kerry said.

Peace, he added, "will unleash enormous potential for the Colombian people."