FARC dissidents and Colombian government reach agreement to begin peace talks

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro speaks during a ceremony to decorate soldiers and indigenous people who participated in the rescue of the surviving children from a Cessna 206 plane that crashed in the thick jungle, in Bogota, Colombia June 26, 2023. REUTERS/Vannessa Jimenez

(Reuters) - Colombia's government has reached an agreement to begin peace talks with a faction of dissident Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who rejected a 2016 peace agreement, according to a statement.

A temporary ceasefire between the government and the dissident faction of the now-demobilized FARC, which is made up of approximately 3,500 people and is known as the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), will be discussed.