Bogota, Nov 15 (EFE) – The Colombian government announced on Wednesday the resumption of peace talks with the so-called Central General Command (EMC), a guerrilla organization.

“After two weeks of hiatus, or pause, decreed by the Central General Command to carry out its consultations and reorganizations, we are going to resume the scheduled meetings, specifically a new cycle of talks at the peace table,” announced the government’s chief negotiator, Camilo González, in a video on Wednesday.

The EMC is a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that decided not to join the peace process that the guerrilla group signed with the Colombian government in 2016. Factions that abandoned that process or returned to arms after it are known as dissidences.

The government of Gustavo Petro offered the EMC a new process as part of its “Total Peace” program, which aims to dismantle all armed and criminal groups in the country.

A negotiating table was established on Oct. 16, but it was suspended just 21 days later due to disagreements over the presence of the Colombian armed forces in areas where the EMC operates, particularly in the southwestern department of Cauca.

A week ago, in an interview with EFE, one of the EMC delegates to the peace process, “Sebastián Martínez,” claimed that the ongoing dialogue was “a total chaos that has led to exhaustion” and accused the government of constantly changing what was agreed upon.

In this context, the EMC has requested that the government “adopt a clear methodology” to overcome this “crisis,” said Sebastián Martínez.

The beginning of the new cycle of dialogues, according to government negotiator González, will coincide with the seventh anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement with the now extinct FARC, which will be celebrated on Nov. 24. EFE

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