Colombia’s government and one of the nation’s last remaining rebel groups announced Tuesday that they will start peace talks next month and enter a 10-month ceasefire that is expected to decrease violence against civilians.
The agreement between the Colombian government and the rebel group known as FARC-EMC comes as President Gustavo Petro tries to bolster his plans to pacify rural areas of Colombia by negotiating simultaneously with all of the nation’s remaining rebel factions, under his “total peace” strategy.
The FARC-EMC are a splinter group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The splinter group refused to join a 2016 peace deal between the main FARC group and the government, in which more than 12,000 fighters laid down their guns.
The government and the rebel group also issued a joint statement which said that the peace talks will seek to “dignify” the living conditions of Colombians who have “been victims of social inequalities and armed confrontation.”
This will be the second ceasefire between the government and the FARC-EMC in less than a year.
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