Bogotá, Colombia

The Colombian government said Saturday (Sept. 02) that armed dissidents called Estado Mayor Central (EMC) had agreed to renew a ceasefire and peace talks. 

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The peace deal is a part of leftist President Gustavo Petro's larger agenda to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor regarding tackling rebel groups. 

A joint statement released by the government and the EMC said that the current agreement "aims to reduce confrontation and violence." The statement said that the truce would apply throughout the country, and it aims to include "civil society in the peace process."

Next step: Peace talks

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Now that the ceasefire has been restored, it is being speculated that peace talks between EMC and the government can begin. It must be noted that EMC had rejected peace talks with the government in 2016, and it chose to break away from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after it entered into peace negotiations with the government.

Watch: Colombia plane crash: 4 children including infant found alive in Amazon rainforest after 40 days

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FARC, which transformed into the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force political party in 2017, has broadly respected the 2016 peace plan. However, some defiant members chose to set up their own outfit under the EMC umbrella.

Also read: Miracle: Four Indigenous children rescued from dense Amazon jungle 40 days after plane crash

Representatives of the EMC group were quoted as saying by DW that the Colombian government had initiated discussions in the mountains a week ago and they are trying to revive the peace talks.

EMC said that the peace plan would be supervised by other nations as well as multilateral organisations such as the UN, the Organization of American States and the World Council of Churches.

However, it was not made clear when the peace talks would begin.

What happened to previous ceasefire?

This is not the first truce between the government and EMC rebels. One such truce previously collapsed after President Petro accused a faction of EMC of murdering four children from the Murui indigenous community in Southern Colombia. 

Petro, elected last year, campaigned on a pledge to pursue "total peace" and to strike accords with the remaining rebel groups in Colombia still fighting over access to drug routes and other illegal commerce, among other things.

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