AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Dialogue between the government and FARC has started behind closed-door

Oslo (Agenzia Fides) - The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have released a joint statement confirming the meeting for Dialogue for peace in Oslo, capital of Norway, albeit behind the schedule established, since the delegation of the government was not able to leave Colombia in time due to the storms. In fact, the meeting, according to the note sent to Fides Agency, was supposed to start on Tuesday, October 16, instead it began the following day, on Wednesday the 17th, and will be held behind closed-door. In this first meeting they will have to define an agenda of the main points, then dialogue will take place in the second location chosen previously, Havana (Cuba).
Norway has been present since the beginning of the negotiations. Along with Cuba it has thus become the guarantor of this Dialogue of Peace that everyone hopes will put an end to a bloody civil war lasted 50 years. The representatives of Chile and Venezuela stand as witnesses of an event that can become an example for other American countries.
The points to be covered, according to the international press, are: land ownership and rural development, political participation and the opposition, the end of the armed conflict, drug trafficking and compensation for victims. The Catholic Church in Colombia called the faithful and all people of good will to pray for the success of this dialogue (see Fides 12/10/2012). (CE) (Agenzia Fides 18/10/2012)