Colombia's FARC rebels, who are negotiating a peace accord with the government, said Saturday they will not disarm or sign a deal unless rightwing paramilitary groups are eliminated.
Such groups, which first emerged in the 1980s as part of a complex mix of forces in Colombia, officially demobilized in 2006.
But the Marxist FARC said they are now back on the rise.
The government has also recognized that some paramilitary groups have reactivated and are involved particularly in drug trafficking.
The peace talks began in November 2012 and both sides now say they are closer than ever to sealing a deal.
In September they vowed to deliver a final deal within six months. The war they are trying to end has left at least 220,000 dead and displaced around six million.
But paramilitary groups are back on the rise "in dramatic fashion," wrote Joaquin Gomez, a FARC commander, warning it could have implications for peace.
The FARC have "concrete data on the massive presence of paramilitaries" in 12 of Colombia's 32 departments, Gomez wrote on a blog operated by the FARC's delegation to the peace talks, being held in Havana.
His article was entitled, "With paramilitaries there will be no peace."
"It is unthinkable that in these conditions the FARC could lay down their arms," Gomez wrote.
In a post-war period, such paramilitaries would kill social and grassroots leaders and former FARC fighters, especially the group's leaders, he argued.
Colombia’s FARC rebels, who are negotiating a peace accord with the government, said Saturday they will not disarm or sign a deal unless rightwing paramilitary groups are eliminated.
Such groups, which first emerged in the 1980s as part of a complex mix of forces in Colombia, officially demobilized in 2006.
But the Marxist FARC said they are now back on the rise.
The government has also recognized that some paramilitary groups have reactivated and are involved particularly in drug trafficking.
The peace talks began in November 2012 and both sides now say they are closer than ever to sealing a deal.
In September they vowed to deliver a final deal within six months. The war they are trying to end has left at least 220,000 dead and displaced around six million.
But paramilitary groups are back on the rise “in dramatic fashion,” wrote Joaquin Gomez, a FARC commander, warning it could have implications for peace.
The FARC have “concrete data on the massive presence of paramilitaries” in 12 of Colombia’s 32 departments, Gomez wrote on a blog operated by the FARC’s delegation to the peace talks, being held in Havana.
His article was entitled, “With paramilitaries there will be no peace.”
“It is unthinkable that in these conditions the FARC could lay down their arms,” Gomez wrote.
In a post-war period, such paramilitaries would kill social and grassroots leaders and former FARC fighters, especially the group’s leaders, he argued.
