Colombia: Government suspends peace talks after FARC kidnaps general

Colombia Suspends Peace Talks With Rebels After General’s Capture
President Says Negotiations With FARC Are Off Until Further Notice

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in a statement that the peace talks between the Colombian government and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, currently under way in Havana, Cuba, would be suspended until further notice following the FARC’s capture of Gen. Rubén Darío Alzate in a conflict-torn region near the Pacific coast.

Mr. Alzate was taken hostage along with an army captain, Jorge Rodriguez Contreras, and a civilian lawyer, Gloria Urrego.

All throughout the “peace talks” taking place in Havana, the FARC continued killing and kidnapping. Former president and now senator Alvaro Uribe tweeted,
“639 soldiers and police murdered by FARC terrorists during dialogue with Santos.”

639 soldados y policías asesinados por terrorista Farc durante diálogo con Santos

— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) November 17, 2014

Uribe also published an article (in Spanish) on the error of negotiating with the FARC:

El Mundo de Madrid publica algunos de nuestros conceptos pic.twitter.com/r81i3rdFOS

— Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) November 17, 2014

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Santos must present any peace agreement with the Marxist rebels to Congress no later than 24 February, and that the public must be told in advance of this date.