US Secretary of State John Kerry to meet FARC guerillas in Cuba

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.com/en/us-secretary-of-state-john-kerry-to-meet-farc-guerillas-in-cuba/a-19130542

Top US diplomat John Kerry has agreed to meet with Colombian guerrillas during a visit to Cuba. It will be Washington's highest level meeting to date with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

US Secretary of State John Kerry to meet FARC guerillas in Cuba
21.03.2016

The US secretary of state will meet with the Marxist rebel group on Monday while visiting Cuba, using the meeting to check in on progress to end Colombia's half-century of conflict.

A source at Colombia's Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and another source close to the government confirmed the Kerry meeting.

"It has been scheduled, the meeting with Kerry," FARC negotiator Pastor Alape told the Reuters news agency, adding that the rebels would first meet the US special envoy for Colombian peace talks, Bernard Aronson, to agree on an agenda.

More than half century of bloodshed

The US-allied government and Marxist militants are attempting to reach a deal that would be placed before Colombian voters for approval, with a United Nations mission supervising rebel disarmament.

[unhappycamper]

1. ‘More than 230,000’ Columbian children uprooted by war

http://www.france24.com/en/20160321-over-230000-colombian-children-uprooted-war-despite-peace-talks-unicef

More than 230,000 Colombian children have been forced to flee their homes since peace talks between the government and rebels began three years ago.

‘More than 230,000’ Columbian children uprooted by war
Latest update : 2016-03-21

Children will continue to be at risk even if a deal is reached, the United Nations said on Monday.

The government and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are inching ever closer to signing a peace deal in Cuba, where talks began in late 2012. If a peace accord is reached it would bring an end to more than half a century of war and Latin America's longest-running insurgency.

"Even if the peace agreement were to be signed tomorrow, children will continue to be at risk of all kinds of violations including recruitment, landmines and sexual exploitation," Roberto De Bernardi, Colombia representative for the U.N. children's agency (UNICEF), said in a statement.

"Unless these children receive the material and psychological assistance they need, the prospects of long-lasting peace will remain elusive," he said.