Colombian State and Segunda Marquetalia Start Peace Process

On Friday, the Colombian government and the "Second Marquetalia," a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), announced the beginning of peace negotiations.

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"We agree on the need to carry out an orderly, agile, rigorous, and respectful peace process, which provides tranquility and certainty to Colombian society in the genuine commitment to political solution and peacebuilding," says a joint statement signed by Otty Patiño, the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, and Ivan Marquez, the leader of the Second Marquetalia.

The statement published today indicates that the Second Marquetalia, which was created by Ivan Marquez in August 2019 after leaving the 2016 peace agreement and taking up arms alleging breaches by the Colombian government, commits to not kidnapping civilians.

"The Second Marquetalia reiterates its commitment... to suspend kidnappings for economic purposes and prioritize dialogue with entrepreneurs, ranchers, merchants, and other wealthy people to seek their contribution to the progress of rural and urban communities," the statement adds.

This new peace negotiation adds to those already underway by the Colombian government with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and with the Join Staff (EMC), another FARC dissidence.

The announcement also comes at a time when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is visiting Colombia to reaffirm its support for the 2016 Peace Agreement with the FARC and for the talks with the ELN and the EMC, which have yielded significant results such as bilateral ceasefires.

On Friday, UNSC representatives will visit a former Territorial Training and Reintegration Space (ETCR) in the department of Caqueta, where FARC guerrillas reintegrated.

Ivan Marquez , the leader of the Second Marquetalia, was the FARC chief negotiator for the peace talks with the government of Juan Manuel Santos in Havana, which concluded with the signing of the 2016 agreement.

He reappears to lead the new peace negotiation with the Colombian state, which also includes another dissidence called the "Pacific Guerrilla Coordinator - Border Commands."