FARC and Cuban government end latest round of peace talks

(21 Mar 2013) 1. Wide of Humberto De La Calle, Colombian government lead negotiator, at microphone 2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Humberto De La Calle, Colombian government lead negotiator: "We will only discuss, in order to reach an agreement, the points included in the agenda and agreed to in the General Agreement." 3. Cutaway of journalists 4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Humberto De La Calle, Colombian government lead negotiator: "We will not demilitarise one centimetre of the national geography, nor will we discuss our Armed Forces doctrine." 5. Wide of FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) delegation at conference table 6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ivan Marquez, FARC lead negotiator: "We are not asking for the demilitarisation of society nor of the Colombian State right now. No. This is a process. As peace moves forward, as we begin to consolidate a peaceful co-existence, the need to have a large military presence deployed across the nation begins to disappear." 7. Cutaway press 8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ivan Marquez, FARC lead negotiator: "It doesn't worry us to be told we are including topics that are not part of the agenda. That's not true. We can review all the proposals we have made and all of them allude to the problem of land and territory." 9. Wide of FARC delegates at conference table STORYLINE Colombia's government and leftist rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) closed another round of peace talks on Thursday without reaching a deal on agrarian reform, the first of six points in the negotiations taking place in Havana. Land issues are the main source of Colombia's armed conflict, which has been raging for decades. Expectations had been high that an initial agreement was imminent. But the two sides concluded their seventh round of talks and will go on break as planned until April 2. Both parties are expected to meet with their respective leadership over the next few days. Before taking the planned hiatus, both sides met separately with local and foreign press in Havana on Thursday. Lead government negotiator Humberto De La Calle read a prepared statement to journalists and said that the peace conversations will not include any topics not on the pre-agreed agenda. "We will only discuss, in order to reach an agreement, the points included in the agenda and agreed to in the General Agreement," said De La Calle. The government representative also said that Colombia "will not demilitarise one centimetre of the national geography, nor will we discuss our Armed Forces doctrine." De La Calle did not take any questions after reading his prepared statement. Later that same day, FARC rebels responded to the government statements during their own news conference. "We are not asking for the demilitarisation of society nor of the Colombian State right now. No. This is a process. As peace moves forward, as we begin to consolidate a peaceful co-existence, the need to have a large military presence deployed across the nation begins to disappear," said Ivan Marquez, lead negotiator for the FARC. "It doesn't worry us to be told we are including topics that are not part of the agenda. That's not true. We can review all the proposals we have made and all of them allude to the problem of land and territory," added Marquez. Cuba is playing host to the talks following an initial round of discussions in Oslo, Norway last November. The talks, the result of seven months of secret negotiations in Havana, follow several failed efforts over the decades to end the conflict. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...