Columbian Peace Commissioner Says Most Of FARC Implementing Accord Despite Call To Arms

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2019) Some 90 percent of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are still honoring the peace accord, Colombian High Commissioner for Peace Miguel Ceballos told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Before dawn on Thursday morning former FARC commander Ivan Marquez, a key negotiator of the landmark 2016 peace accord, issued a video manifesto on YouTube calling for a revival of the armed struggle against the government of Colombia.

"Ninety percent of the FARC is still implementing the process," Ceballos told a press conference at the Colombian Embassy to the United States.

It is very clear, Ceballos added, that there is a direct link between Marquez's group and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government which is trying to affect Columbia's democracy.

Marquez's announcement followed deep polarization in Colombian society prompted by the murder of former rebels and human rights activists. He accused the Colombian government of President Ivan Duque of betraying the 2016 Havana Peace Accords that ended 52 years of civil war.

The half-century war between the FARC and the Colombian government claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people prior to 2017 when the movement laid down its weapons and was reorganized as a legitimate political party.