- President suspends peace talks with rebels
The Colombian government suspended talks with leftist rebels, in response to the kidnapping of a top Army general. This many are deeming a major setback at this critical time. The suspension sees a disruption of peace talks geared at resolving years of conflict in Colombia.
According to reports, armed men captured Gen. Rubén DarÃo Alzate and two others while they were surveying a rural energy project in western Colombia on Sunday. The kidnapping by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, threatens ongoing efforts to end 50 years of war.
Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, said the peace talks currently under way in Cuba would be suspended until Alzate and the two others, an Army captain and a female civilian lawyer, are released. He called off plans for his team of negotiators to travel to Havana. The suspension is not the first time the peace talks have been halted. The rebel group stopped similar talks in August 2013 amid suspicions surrounding the government’s plan to put any peace deal to a referendum. Those talks were however reportedly resumed at the end of the month. An estimated 220,000 people have died in Colombia since the armed conflict began in 1964, the BBC reports.
Extracted and modified from Yahoo News
