Why did the United States condition the United Nations in Colombia to verify the end of MORDISCO dissent?

Following the presentation to the UN Security Council of the quarterly report of the Verification Mission in Colombia on the implementation of the ceasefire, Carlos Ruiz Masiú, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Colombia, gave a virtual press conference. Where he talked about the conditions that the United States gave to extend the mandate of the mission which could ratify a ceasefire with former FARC dissidents and details of a visit to the country by the Security Council in February.

in context: UN calls on Petros to abide by agreement with FARC amid complete peace

The UN Verification Mission report states that “no cases of ELN ceasefire violations have been confirmed” and has caused noise, particularly due to the kidnapping of Luis Díaz’s father, where the guerrillas themselves claimed responsibility. Have accepted. Why was that conclusion reached?

The report talks about 170 cases received, many of which were dismissed and others are in various stages. This does not mean that incidents cannot occur that could be considered violations. There is nothing like that till date, but that is okay because various stages are being completed and we still cannot be categorical and say that there is no incident of rape after analyzing 170 cases. But I repeat that this does not mean that no event has occurred, it just means that all the steps have not been completed.

I would like to highlight two things that show the importance of verification mechanisms: The first, without a doubt, is collision prevention. This has been important in this process: and the second is conflict resolution. If we look at the situation, even if it is not related to the ceasefire, those matters have been addressed often.

Besides: “May 2024 will be the year of implementation of the peace agreement”: UN representative

How likely is it that the Verification Mechanism report will be made public? There should be quarterly delivery and we understand that this has been done for the table, but when for the public?

As stipulated in the protocol, this report goes to the table for evaluation and adjustments are made to the way the mechanism works as well as to the issue of proliferation. I can tell you this from the United Nations We have a great interest in disseminating this report or the work of the Mechanism to public opinion as widely as possible., with the Colombian society and of course through the media. We hope the parties are with us on this. We are confident that we should have even more information.

Can you give us more information about the UN Security Council visit announced for February?

More specific details about this visit will certainly be announced more formally by the Government and the Security Council in the coming days. At present, this yatra is proposed in the first fortnight of February. It is a four or five-day visit which will include meetings with various counterparts of the 2016 agreement. -Government and former FARC fighters- to make an assessment on site Of implementation.

There will also be field visits to see how implementation is going on in different areas of the country, the situation of communities, ethnic chapters and how rural reforms are progressing. The visit includes elements of both a national dialogue and regional visits for this assessment.

This is the third visit of the Security Council since the signing of the 2016 agreement and the second during my administration. This is a great opportunity for the Security Council to directly assess and express support for the Colombian peace process and for the parties to share their assessment and how things are progressing. We are halfway through the estimated 15 years for its implementation.

Which areas will the Security Council visit? Is there already information about them?

I am not in a position to confirm specific areas yet. What I can guess is that it will, on the one hand, be in an area where there will be a reintegration process of FARC ex-combatants. This will certainly take place in one of the old ETCRs (Territorial Training and Reintegration Space). In the second area, the objective is to make contact with ethnic groups and deepen dialogue with indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. The agenda is yet to be confirmed.

You may be interested in: UN Security Council to visit Colombia in February

The United States representative to the Security Council conditioned the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission on verifying the ceasefire with a dissident group called the Central General Staff (EMC). How do you read that conditioning?

In fact, we still do not have a Security Council mandate to verify that end, although it has collectively expressed a willingness to consider giving us that mandate. what we’re going to do is Bring information to the Council about what is happening at the negotiating table so that it can assess whether to give us a mandate or not. At present we are participating as observers.

in context: US sets conditions for extension of UN mission’s mandate to verify end deal with dissidents

The United States expressed that, in its opinion, negotiations with the EMC and the ceasefire are not yet mature enough for Council involvement. When this happens, what they express is that the process needs to be taken forward.

There is a discussion process to renew this ceasefire and structure and focus on the agenda of these dialogues, which we have confidence in. Other countries expressed that they are ready to consider expanding the mandate for this process, but Council members have different legitimate views and it is up to us to consider all the elements so that they Can take appropriate decisions. Regarding the involvement of the Security and Mission Council.