Colombia oil patch monitoring effort to sustain peace

OREANDA-NEWS. October 05, 2016. Oil producers in Colombia are monitoring the government's effort to rework the terms of a peace agreement with rebel group Farc, after a thin majority of voters unexpectedly rejected the deal in a 2 October plebiscite.

The oil industry is hoping a peace agreement will reduce operating risks. The stunning outcome of the poll has cast doubt on the government's ability to implement a tax reform, another critical priority for the oil patch.

The dramatic turn of events comes at a time of declining oil production.

"We support President Juan Manuel Santos with his decision to continue the search for peace and convene all political powers in a dialog to find a path forward," oil chamber ACP said yesterday.

A bilateral ceasefire that started in July remains in place for now as Santos seeks to keep the process from derailing.

Influential former president Alvaro Uribe, the leading critic of the rejected accord, is calling for tighter restrictions on political participation for Farc leaders and tougher sentences for those accused of war crimes, along with amnesty for the Farc?s rank and file.

Uribe and his political party, Centro Democr?tico (CD), enjoy broad support in Colombia's business community. Santos served as Uribe's defense minister before the two had a dramatic falling out over the best approach to pacifying the rebels.

The government's chief peace negotiator Humberto de la Calle, foreign minister Maria Angela Holguin, and defense minister Luis Carlos Villegas are scheduled to start talks this week with three CD leaders, former presidential candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, senator Ivan Duque and former interior minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo.

"This should be an exercise that we make happen as soon as possible… being in limbo is not good for security," Villegas said today.

Talks are scheduled to start as soon as de la Calle returns from Cuba where his team is meeting with Farc negotiators.

The Farc said yesterday it would honor the agreement, which Farc commander Rodrigo Londo?o, known as Timochenko, and Santos signed at a high-profile 26 September ceremony in Cartagena.

"The legal provisions of the agreement are in force. The international community supports them. There is no turning around now," Farc negotiator Pablo Catatumbo said yesterday.