FARC guerrillas resisted leadership’s call for ceasefire: Rebel leader
The FARC‘s five-month unilateral ceasefire between December and May caused major unrest among guerrilla units, one of the group’s top military commanders and peace negotiator told The Associated Press.
According to “Pastor Alape,” the nom-de-guerre of Felix Antonio Muñoz, unit commanders complained about them upholding a ceasefire while the military continued attacking rebel units.
“There was nonconformity among many guerrillas: ‘We are in a unilateral ceasefire and the enemy is advancing’, they said,” according to Alape.
“The rebel troops asked their commanders if they were going to allow the army to kill them without defending themselves,” said the FARC negotiator, whose group ended their ceasefire after a military air strike killed 27 rebels, including one peace negotiator.
“In order to show actions to generate confidence for the country, we decided on a unilateral ceasefire,” Alape told AP.
However, “the government is not making an accurate assessment of our commitment to peace” and used the truce to make military advances and attack the guerrillas, Alape said.
According to the Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, a conflict analyst group, FARC units disobeyed orders handed down from Cuba and carried out attacks on twelve occasions in the five months of the truce while being attacked 78 times.
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