In an interview with the Spanish magazine Cambio 16, Guillermo Leon Sáenz Vargas, aka Alfonso Cano, head of FARC, stated the only element missing for talks to start with the government led by Alvaro Uribe was “ absolute guarantees that talks would be secure” .

He pointed out that if there were guarantees regarding”how, when and where”, FARC would be able to sit at the negotiating table to “seek agreements that could lead to an exchange of prisoners of war, and create the environment for subsequent phases that would ultimately lead to peace agreements”.

He stated he thought it was time he spoke with the Head of State in a “frank and firm manner about the “causes and the use of terrorism by the Colombian state”.

This statement to journalist Jorge Melgarejo is thought to the first given by the rebel known as ‘Alfonso Cano’ to a media outlet since the day he took over as leader of FARC.

He also confirmed that, contrary to what armed forces stated,”FARC rebels are well” and have not been weakened by the recent deaths of their leaders .

“FARC are an irregular army; we maintain all our structures based on “blocks of command groups, front line units and strategic columns that act according to plans carefully thought out at plenary meetings of Central Command, strengthened last year at our ninth conference. We have hit back and also been hit, but such is war(…); we are reinforcing our links with the population throughout the country, which will guarantee our victory. You can be sure that FARC rebels enjoy excellent health”.

Chavez, key player in a humanitarian agreement

Regarding the role played y President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, in the humanitarian moves with FARC,Cano declared that Chavez’s removal as mediator has “deprived our country of a valuable contribution to the search for peace among Colombians”.

He added that “we all owe him a lot” and he conveyed Farc’s thanks for the role he played in this recent search for peace.

“On our behalf , we wish to thank him once again very sincerely for his willingness to encourage actions and dialogue between the parties in the conflict at a time when, with others, we had asked him to become involved in the search for peace in Colombia, which would bring peace to the entire region”, said ‘Cano’.

Finally, ‘Manuel Marulanda’s successor (aka ‘Tirofijo’) stated it was necessary to see to it that the “search for peace would not weaken in its efforts towards a negotiated liberation”

More details about Alfonso Cano:

Alfonso Cano’s real name is Guillermo Leon Sáenz Vargas

He was born on 22 July, 1948 in Bogotá.

He took over the leadership of FARC following the death of ‘Tirofijo’

Authorities believe he is currently in the Planadas region (Tolima)

He studied at secondary school in Bogota and completed ten terms in anthropology at the National University.

He is thought to be one of the leaders of the secret Bolivarian Movement for New Colombia and also of the underground Communist Party.

---