(Adds quotes from Colombia negotiator and FARC, details)
* Accord to bring “radical transformation” in rural areas
* Talks will move on to issue of FARC political
participation
* Negotiations will resume June 11 in Havana
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA, May 26 (Reuters) – Colombia and the Marxist-led FARC
rebels have reached agreement on the critical issue of agrarian
reform, the two sides said on Sunday in what appeared to be a
major step forward for the peace process aimed at ending their
long war.
They said the accord called for the economic and social
development of rural areas and providing land to the people
living there, which addresses one of the main issues that led
the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to form in
1964 as a communist agrarian reform movement and launch its
insurgency.
Lead government negotiator Humberto de la Calle reminded
that the agreement would only take effect if an overall peace
accord is achieved, which has been the guiding principal of the
talks since the beginning.
“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” he said.
But he added it would represent “a historic change, a
rebirth of the Colombian countryside.”
The government promised to build up services and
infrastructure in rural areas as it tries to end the country’s
long history of social and economic inequality.
“What we have agreed to in this accord will be the
beginning of radical transformations in the rural and agrarian
reality of Colombia, with equity and democracy,” said the joint
statement, which was read at the end of the ninth round of the
talks that began Nov. 19 in Havana.
The rebels warned that “certain points” in the agrarian
reform accord “necessarily will have to be retaken before the
completion of the final agreement,” but said a path was being
opened for “the people to act, to mobilize themselves in defense
of their rights.”
It was not disclosed how much land would be given out. De la
Calle said there would be “an ambitious program of restitution
and adjudication of lands” to the rural poor, but that private
landowners would not lose their property
“Legal landowners have nothing to fear,” he said.
The agreement was the most hopeful development yet in the
peace process, but many potential obstacles remain, starting
with the next agenda item – the delicate subject of political
participation for the FARC.
More than 100,000 people have died and millions have been
displaced in the war that is now Latin America’s longest-running
insurgency and goes on at a low intensity even as the peace
discussions continue.
Many Colombians feel the rebels must face justice for war
casualties, the use of kidnappings to extort money and
involvement in the illicit drug trade, the latter a charge the
group has denied.
But criminal charges and jail time could exclude many FARC
leaders from taking part in politics.
The rebels have said they are willing to “review” any
“error” committed during the war, but have ruled out prosecution
by a state they say they legitimately rose up against for
persecuting and neglecting its own people.
Other remaining agenda points include the logistics of
ending the conflict, the drug trade, compensation for victims
and the implementation of the final accord.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who recently hinted that he
plans to run for re-election in 2014, has said he wants the
talks ended this year.
Santos initiated the peace talks last year on a bet the FARC
had been so weakened by the government’s 10-year, U.S.-backed
offensive against the group that its leaders are ready to
negotiate an end to the fighting.
Three previous peace attempts, the last ending in 2002, have
failed.
The rebels have been pushed into remote corners of the
country but are still able to attack oil and mining operations
that are fueling Colombia’s economic growth.
The war has diverted billions of dollars from the economy as
industry is unable to function at full capacity and the
government is forced to spend heavily on troops and weapons.
Even if peace with the FARC is achieved, the government
still must deal with a smaller rebel force, the ELN or National
Liberation Army, and criminal gangs running drug-trafficking
operations.
The ELN, with an estimated 3,000 fighters, has expressed
interest in seeking a peace accord similar to the one being
pursued with the FARC, but Santos has said it must first release
captives who include a Canadian citizen.
Norway and Cuba are serving as guarantors for the
Colombia-FARC talks, with Chile and Venezuela as observers.
The discussions are set to resume in Havana on June 11, a
government spokesman said.
(Reporting By Jeff Franks; Editing by Sandra Maler)
