Cuba stresses its “unalterable” commitment to peace in Colombia

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Cuba remarked on Wednesday (24) its “unalterable” commitment to peace in Colombia and urged full compliance with what was agreed five years ago between the government of the South American country and the former FARC guerrillas.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel spoke virtually at the official ceremony for the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Peace Agreement, where he called for “taking more effective measures to guarantee the protection of the lives of former guerrillas, social leaders, and human rights defenders.”

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He referred to his country’s “principled” position regarding the Colombian armed conflict while affirming that it will continue to support initiatives for a negotiated political solution.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez stressed on Twitter his country’s “unalterable” commitment to peace in Colombia. The foreign minister added that the “effective” implementation and “strict compliance” with the agreement signed on November 24, 2016, between the Colombian government – then presided over by Juan Manuel Santos – and the now demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are guarantees for a “just and lasting peace”.

Cuba played a crucial role in that process by being one of the guarantor countries and hosting the talks during the four years they lasted. Following that agreement, Colombia initiated a similar approach with the National Liberation Army (ELN) in 2017, which began in Ecuador but moved the following year to Havana.

The 2019 attack by a guerrilla against the Police Cadet School in Bogota – which left 22 dead and 66 wounded – led the Colombian government to definitively break off the talks and demand the return of the insurgent leaders who were in Havana.

Cuba, which condemned that terrorist act, has refused to extradite the ELN negotiators, justifying its position by the terms of the pact signed by the former Santos government in case of a halt in the talks.