Reuters (with additional material by AFP). 20 January 2002. Colombian Rebel Talks Go to Last - Day Deadline.
LOS POZOS -- As a midnight deadline loomed to thrash out a cease-fire timetable or face a threatened government offensive, Marxist FARC rebels were in last-minute talks with government negotiators to save Colombia's fragile, three-year-old peace process. Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, FARC negotiator Raul Reyes said Sunday that his group agreed to parts of the government proposal, and they would make a counter-proposal on the remaining parts later in the day. Negotiators "obtained some developments, but there is still work to be done," government peace commissioner Camilo Gomez told reporters here late Saturday. Another FARC negotiator, Andres Paris, said that Pastrana's deadlines did not help move the talks ahead. "He's falling all over himself," Paris told AFP. "Setting deadlines is unhealthy" and creates a "tense environment" in the talks. Pastrana is "playing politics," and his tough talk during the week is "generating pressure on us as part of the negotiations," Paris said. "Colombians must understand that this is a negotiation by two sides, neither is going to impose upon the other," he added. While government officials and guerrilla commanders were tight-lipped about details as talks got under way, negotiators in the guerrilla enclave seemed cheerful hours ahead of the midnight deadline. Despite the pressure, talks ended relatively early on Saturday evening and chief government peace negotiator Camilo Gomez chatted with senior FARC commander Simon Trinidad about bullfighting before turning in for the night. Rebel commander Raul Reyes responded with a joke when asked about the atmosphere at talks about to start on Sunday. "The atmosphere is great as you can see -- a shining sun, a beautiful day," said the diminutive, gray-bearded rebel. Pastrana has taken the nation by surprise this year by getting tough with the 17,000-member FARC and insisting on concrete steps to reduce the level of violence in a 38-year war that has claimed 40,000 lives in the past decade. The guerrillas have long insisted that social reforms such as unemployment benefits should come first in talks. There was little tension in the enclave's biggest town, San Vicente, on Sunday. People in the noisy, rundown town are getting used to constant deadlines. Many FARC guerrillas, on alert for an possible retreat into nearby jungle, have been staying out of town. But there were a few around on Sunday morning. One group of young rebels, dressed in camouflage gear and armed with pistols and machine guns, lounged in a shabby cafe watching cartoons on television at breakfast and sniggering over their horoscopes in a women's magazine. The rebels however also have been increasing pressure: since Monday, the day the FARC agreed to renew negotiations with the government, some 50 people have died in clashes around the country, according to military and police reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
