Colombia: FARC Suspends Unilateral Ceasefire with Government

2015-05-22 3

After the Colombian Army killed 26 guerrillas in a military operation in the town of Guapi in Cauca on Thursday, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia issued a statement denouncing the attack and suspending the unilateral ceasefire that they declared last December. This was the deadliest attack since the two sides began peace talks in 2012. Initial reports had referred to 18 deaths, but President Juan Manuel Santos reported on Friday morning that the figure was in fact, 26. It came just after a seven-year-old girl was killed when she stepped on a land mine. Although an increasing number of peace groups and social organizations have called on the government to participate in a bilateral ceasefire, the Juan Manuel Santos administration refuses to do so. Natalia Margarita reports from Bogota for teleSUR.