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Colombia's Santos, Uribe to meet to discuss FARC peace process

Xinhua, October 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos will meet former president and senator Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday morning to discuss how to take the peace process with the FARC forward, after voters rejected the current peace agreement in Sunday's referendum.

A statement from the presidency stated Santos had invited Uribe and another former president, Andres Pastrana, who both opposed the peace deal, for talks.

Writing on Twitter, Santos confirmed the meeting with his two predecessors, who have long stated the current agreement brokered with the FARC was too lenient to the guerrilla group.

It is hoped that this meeting will help to clarify how Colombia should proceed after a plebiscite on Sunday returned a narrow rejection of the peace deal.

International organizations such as the UN and countries in the region had all supported the agreement, which is now in limbo.

While FARC commander Timoleon Jimenez has confirmed that the group will maintain its ceasefire, its official Twitter account said on Tuesday that "the FARC will remain loyal to what was agreed." This may point to little desire among the FARC to renegotiate, especially since Uribe has been unyielding on the fact that guerrilla members should not be amnestied but face jail terms. Enditem