Colombian rebels want U.S. to participate in peace talks
HAVANA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC rebels asked for the United States to join its peace talks with the Colombian government, saying on Friday it would speed up the process because Washington was making all the important decisions anyway.
The Colombian government and the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to the request, which was likely to be rejected by the Colombian government on the grounds of national sovereignty.
"We are discussing a matter of interest for the United States," Ivan Marquez, head of the FARC's negotiating team in Havana, told reporters before entering the latest round of talks.
"Who is really determining what happens or not here is the U.S. government, so we would like to speak with the government of the United States... We would reach an understanding much quicker," Marquez said.
For the past 15 months Cuba has hosted talks aimed at ending a half-century guerrilla conflict, the longest in Latin America, which has claimed some 200,000 lives and displaced millions more. Norway has participated in the talks as a so-called facilitator.
The FARC, which stands for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. criticized an encounter this week between the United States and Colombia in which it said Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon met with the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency. Reuters has not confirmed whether such a meeting took place.
The United States provided Colombia with military aid to fight the FARC and other armed guerrilla groups that have sought to overthrow the Colombian government and formed alliances with drug traffickers.
For decades, leftist insurgents in Latin America have claimed Washington was directing governments and military strategy in Latin America, a complaint that held more resonance during the Cold War, when the Americans actively participated in military coups and carried outsized clout in making Latin American economies friendly to U.S. business interests.
Since the end of the Cold War and the attacks of September 11, 2001, however, many analysts have commented that Washington has lost interest in Latin America and even ignored the region.
The FARC also announced on Friday that guerrilla commander Fabian Ramirez, leader of a faction known as the Southern Bloc, has joined the peace talks in a significant sign of rebel unity.
Ramirez's participation was likely to quell speculation of a split within the FARC negotiating team.
The two sides have reached tentative agreement on two of five major topics, on land use and the FARC's political future as an unarmed group. They are progressing toward a third agreement on the issue of drug trafficking.
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