Colombians debate land use, to aid peace talks

A three-day meet in Bogotá to gather Colombians' opinions on land use, and planned earlier to complement peace talks between the state and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) concluded on 19 December with some 400 proposals to be sent to negotiators in Havana. The Forum on Integral Agrarian Development organized by Colombia's National University and the United Nations in Colombia, was attended by some 1,200 delegates from 15 civilian sectors nationwide. Opinions, compilled by UN rapporteurs, were to reach Havana before 8 January when negotiations were to resume. Land ownership is a key theme in negotiations. Spain's ABC newspaper observed on 20 December that a little over one cent of proprietors owned over 50 per cent of Colombian lands, and ownership had been a detonator of the ongoing conflict. One group absent at the forum however was the National Federation of Cattle Farmers (Federación Nacional de Ganaderos, Fedegan), whose president termed unhelpful the airing of numerous "antagonistic" positions on land use, ABC reported on 19 December citing news agencies. Another website cited the Fedegan president as saying that his association refused to condone "executioners," meaning the FARC. Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos said in a radio interview that Fedegan's absence and failure to "at least send proposals" made "no sense," but admitted cattle farmers had suffered from guerrilla activities in past decades. The Fedegan's president he said, had "very clearly and from the start been critical of a rapprochement with the FARC," a posture he said was "valid."