After two years of
negotiations, the peace talks have suffered its first crisis due to the
abduction of General Alzate Mora by the FARC on November 16. As a result, President Juan Manuel Santos,
suspended the peace talks immediately, qualifying the act as “unacceptable” and
conditioning the continuance of the peace talks to the return of General Alzate
and others by the FARC.
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| President Juan Manuel Santos and the Militar Cupola of the Armed Forces of Colombia |
On Sunday, November 30, after
General Alzate and the others kidnapped with him where freed, the FARC, taking
advantage of the situation demanded for Santos
to agree to a bilateral ceasefire. Two
days later the General resigned admitting he had broken his security protocol
and by that putting the peace process at risk.
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| General Alzate and FARC Commander Pastor Alpe the day he was freed. |
Santos has repeatedly
refused to consider a ceasefire without a peace agreement, on grounds that the
rebels would use it to regroup, lengthening the war.[1] For now
the crisis has been declared over and the peace talks will resume on December
10, 2014, but still the discomfort of the Military Forces and public opinion
persist, even more now that the General had to resign. This has been an issue
the opposition has been making a fuss about for the past two days.
The current crisis, and it’s quick resolution, are an
opportunity for President Santos to reinforce key messages to the Armed Forces
and public opinion in order to counteract the opposition and gain more support
to the peace process.
