By Richard McColl
BOGOTA, Colombia
A FARC guerrilla spokesperson expressed surprise Tuesday at the government’s “impulsive” decision to suspend peace negotiations until a general who was kidnapped by the guerrilla group was released.
“The negotiating table is committed to resolving the situations in hand,” said Pastor Alape, spokesperson for the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC. He spoke from Havana where ongoing peace dialogues between the guerrilla group and the Colombian government are currently taking place.
The Ivan Rios block of the FARC confirmed in a communique Tuesday that it is holding Gen. Rubén Darío Alzate Mora and two others who were with him when they were seized.
"Once they were identified, in spite of being dressed in civilian clothing, the three were captured by our units due to them being military personnel belonging to the enemy," the statement said.
Alape reminded President Juan Manuel Santos that when the dialogues began in 2012, both sides agreed that “nothing which took place in the country would affect the negotiations.”
Those negotiations began in November 2012 and were set to begin its 31st round of talks on Tuesday but were suspended by Santos at midnight on Sunday following reports that Alzate had been seized near the city of Quibdo in the pacific department of Choco.
“This is the moment for them to show their commitment to the process,” Santos said during a televised address Monday night. “We are negotiating so as to end the war once and for all for everyone. This will be achieved with the end of the conflict. Not with a simple cease-fire,” he added.
Nevertheless, Alape used the press conference to call for a cease-fire rather than to continue the dialogues in the midst of a conflict.
A massive military-led manhunt was launched in search of Gen. Alzate, including helicopters, reconnaissance planes and an estimated 1,000 soldiers, ordered by the Minister of Defence Juan Carlos Pinzon.
Alzate is the highest-ranking military officer to be taken by FARC and there is a great deal of confusion surrounding the nature of his movements that led to seizure.
“For some reason or another they did not follow the normal security protocols,” Pinzon said, referring to the general and two the two others who were captured with him. Reports from the town of Las Mercedes, located about 30 minutes by boat from Quibdo, suggest that Alzate was unarmed and in civilian clothing, and was not accompanied by his usual security detail.
In the midst of this critical moment for the peace dialogues, President Santos has received international backing in the media and from all sides of the Colombian political spectrum.
Ingrid Betancourt, who spent six years as a FARC hostage and was also a former presidential candidate, weighed in on the issue. “When they kidnapped me, a great deal was said. For this reason it is important that Gen. Alzate is returned to us and he himself explains the situation,” she told Caracol Radio. “He is a victim in this situation and is not responsible for his kidnapping.”
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